I've been seeing a lot about ACB lately, and I finally got to catch up on all the media items of interest that I've been noticing.
So, the owner of ACB is Mairbek Khasiev, a Chechen. He did a two-part all-softball interview with RT, but it was an interesting read (I read the transcriptions instead of watching the videos, but the videos do have English voice-over.
‘Veni, vidi, vici – that’s how we work’ – ACB founder Mairbek Khasiev (VIDEO)
‘UFC puts money ahead of everything, we don’t’ – ACB founder Mairbek Khasiev (VIDEO)
Jim Edwards asked Scott Coker about ACB - Coker Talks Bellator Going to Ireland, Poland, Brazil, KSW and ACB - and Coker said:
“What’s the name of them—I’m not sure what they work at,” Coker said, looking slightly puzzled until another reporter explained. “I don’t mean that [disparagingly], are they here? Oh, I see, I think they also tried to do some fights in California. Listen, I think that would be like us trying to go to Russia and promote. America is kinda full—that’s how I feel. But they could build a nice business in their territories. As far as building a business in different parts of the world, I think they have a lot of work to do. But you never know what can happen. I’m the guys that says if you create lightning in a bottle then good for them. I’m happy for ONE FC and I’m happy for Martin [KSW]. We are going to run our business and handle our business. Best of luck to them, if they have success then great.”
Khasiev responded on Instagram saying something like "we can go where we please" -
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUY_8h-B_bz/?hl=en
In his RT interview he spoke about overtaking Bellator within a year. He also spoke about the UFC:
'RT: That’s work for the future of ACB. Where do you see ACB in the near future. Let’s say in two years?
'MK: I’m a pragmatic person. So I don’t plan to do things that I won’t be able to do. Of course I know that we can’t overtake UFC in such a short period. But what would be good for us is if we would develop as quickly as possible while UFC stays at the same level. I wouldn’t mind if they move back a little. That would be perfect for us. The thing is, I don’t really see much positive development in UFC in the past two years. They are focused on certain fighters. And that’s a big mistake. You can’t put money ahead of sporting aspects. It’s a sport first of all. I understand that many will say that money decides everything. That’s not true. It doesn’t. So if they stick to that strategy, we have a very good chance of overtaking them. The longer they keep acting the same way, the easier it’s going to be for us. If we’re talking about Bellator, I hope to overtake them by the end of this year. At least if we’re talking about the system that’s presented on fightmatrix.com. I know that many people disagree with their ratings. But I agree with their system 100 percent, because everyone’s in an equal position for them. By their ratings, our average rating per fighter is 53-54 at the moment. But we already have more fighters signed than them. If we can get an average rating of our fighter at the level that they have, let’s say in KSW which is 76, we’ll overtake Bellator quickly. All our weight divisions are solid. Some of them have an even better rating than Bellator. So it’s only a question of time for us to overtake. When we do that and become the next biggest promotion after the UFC, you should expect our next big move right away. That’s going to be a surprise. Believe me.'
And on Jason Floyd's podcast The MMA Insiders, Jason and his partner spoke about Scott Coker's comments, and believing that ACB is a threat to Bellator in California, mainly because of the regional fighters on the prelims that help ticket sales. They said the $1500/$1500-$3k/$3k fighters that Bellator wants will get snatched up by ACB for $4k/$4k and ticket sale commissions. And they talked about regional promoters not being as able to bring in ex-UFC fighters at a low rate, because ACB is willing to pay them good money.
The MMA Insiders: May 30, 2017 – Radio Influence (starting around 46:20 after brief discussion of Bellator tape delays)
Which brings me to today -- Khasiev ended Nike negotiations because they support gay marriage. On one hand, he is sticking to his own values. On the other, it's just off-putting. I didn't really dislike Khasiev before, but now he just makes me a little uncomfortable, and maybe a little less willing to let go and feel a ton of excitement...something to like and dislike about every promotion of course, but I'm just not sure how much to get into it.
I just think he could have made any public excuse -- but to associate ACB with being anti-gay marriage is just silly to me -- MMA doesn't really have much to do with that stuff either way (in my own mind I mean), and I like it that way. Also, the truly silly way he did it -- we do know there are animals that have same-sex mates, so it just seems weird for someone so educated to speak that way -- no matter what side of the issue you fall on, I mean.
Russian promotion turned down Nike as the sports brand supports homosexuality - MMA Latest
So, on the one hand, they are looking to go big and compete with the top promotions. On the other, they are politicized now in an unfortunate way -- and since it's a Chechen promotion, the idea of not being politicized at all is what should be appealing, I think.
So, the owner of ACB is Mairbek Khasiev, a Chechen. He did a two-part all-softball interview with RT, but it was an interesting read (I read the transcriptions instead of watching the videos, but the videos do have English voice-over.
‘Veni, vidi, vici – that’s how we work’ – ACB founder Mairbek Khasiev (VIDEO)
‘UFC puts money ahead of everything, we don’t’ – ACB founder Mairbek Khasiev (VIDEO)
Jim Edwards asked Scott Coker about ACB - Coker Talks Bellator Going to Ireland, Poland, Brazil, KSW and ACB - and Coker said:
“What’s the name of them—I’m not sure what they work at,” Coker said, looking slightly puzzled until another reporter explained. “I don’t mean that [disparagingly], are they here? Oh, I see, I think they also tried to do some fights in California. Listen, I think that would be like us trying to go to Russia and promote. America is kinda full—that’s how I feel. But they could build a nice business in their territories. As far as building a business in different parts of the world, I think they have a lot of work to do. But you never know what can happen. I’m the guys that says if you create lightning in a bottle then good for them. I’m happy for ONE FC and I’m happy for Martin [KSW]. We are going to run our business and handle our business. Best of luck to them, if they have success then great.”
Khasiev responded on Instagram saying something like "we can go where we please" -
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUY_8h-B_bz/?hl=en
In his RT interview he spoke about overtaking Bellator within a year. He also spoke about the UFC:
'RT: That’s work for the future of ACB. Where do you see ACB in the near future. Let’s say in two years?
'MK: I’m a pragmatic person. So I don’t plan to do things that I won’t be able to do. Of course I know that we can’t overtake UFC in such a short period. But what would be good for us is if we would develop as quickly as possible while UFC stays at the same level. I wouldn’t mind if they move back a little. That would be perfect for us. The thing is, I don’t really see much positive development in UFC in the past two years. They are focused on certain fighters. And that’s a big mistake. You can’t put money ahead of sporting aspects. It’s a sport first of all. I understand that many will say that money decides everything. That’s not true. It doesn’t. So if they stick to that strategy, we have a very good chance of overtaking them. The longer they keep acting the same way, the easier it’s going to be for us. If we’re talking about Bellator, I hope to overtake them by the end of this year. At least if we’re talking about the system that’s presented on fightmatrix.com. I know that many people disagree with their ratings. But I agree with their system 100 percent, because everyone’s in an equal position for them. By their ratings, our average rating per fighter is 53-54 at the moment. But we already have more fighters signed than them. If we can get an average rating of our fighter at the level that they have, let’s say in KSW which is 76, we’ll overtake Bellator quickly. All our weight divisions are solid. Some of them have an even better rating than Bellator. So it’s only a question of time for us to overtake. When we do that and become the next biggest promotion after the UFC, you should expect our next big move right away. That’s going to be a surprise. Believe me.'
And on Jason Floyd's podcast The MMA Insiders, Jason and his partner spoke about Scott Coker's comments, and believing that ACB is a threat to Bellator in California, mainly because of the regional fighters on the prelims that help ticket sales. They said the $1500/$1500-$3k/$3k fighters that Bellator wants will get snatched up by ACB for $4k/$4k and ticket sale commissions. And they talked about regional promoters not being as able to bring in ex-UFC fighters at a low rate, because ACB is willing to pay them good money.
The MMA Insiders: May 30, 2017 – Radio Influence (starting around 46:20 after brief discussion of Bellator tape delays)
Which brings me to today -- Khasiev ended Nike negotiations because they support gay marriage. On one hand, he is sticking to his own values. On the other, it's just off-putting. I didn't really dislike Khasiev before, but now he just makes me a little uncomfortable, and maybe a little less willing to let go and feel a ton of excitement...something to like and dislike about every promotion of course, but I'm just not sure how much to get into it.
I just think he could have made any public excuse -- but to associate ACB with being anti-gay marriage is just silly to me -- MMA doesn't really have much to do with that stuff either way (in my own mind I mean), and I like it that way. Also, the truly silly way he did it -- we do know there are animals that have same-sex mates, so it just seems weird for someone so educated to speak that way -- no matter what side of the issue you fall on, I mean.
Russian promotion turned down Nike as the sports brand supports homosexuality - MMA Latest
So, on the one hand, they are looking to go big and compete with the top promotions. On the other, they are politicized now in an unfortunate way -- and since it's a Chechen promotion, the idea of not being politicized at all is what should be appealing, I think.
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