Hello Martin! A few questions... Don t you think that this thing with Pudelek has gone too far. Isn t it better to be concerned about quality of your show, instead of being involved in gossips. Or maybe it s an idea to bring more people for the upcoming KSW event.
- I don t know why you connect it directly to KSW.
This Pudelek thing?
I have heard that KSW was mentioned there only twice. You and your readers look at this situation from the completely different angle and you connect it directly. First of all this is my partner s private business. He had dated Edyta long before media blew this out of proportion. Moreover do you really believe that thanks to this we would get more KSW fans?
No, but I m afraid that you count on it...
Sold out arena? hmmmm... You and the whole SdW witnessed it on the last KSW, the Torwar was packed. In the last few years no boxing, kickboxing, K-1 or MMA event by different organization was attended by so many spectators, who actually came to see the show and most importantly paid for the ticket. The allegations that we don t care about quality of the show are greatly exaggerated and unsupported by the evidence. Each event we invite more and more interesting fighters, whose skills are very high. KSW Team members are among the best in Poland. Gossiping it s not something we are occupied with. I suggest that you read some different things.
Do you have Fakt on your mind? (laughing)
Press in Poland is independent, everybody can write whatever they want and how they want. We don t have influence on it. Personally, It irritates me, when I read articles by people who write about MMA in newspapers without even a basic knowledge. Why don t use Kulturystykę i Fitness Sport dla Wszystkich , Przegląd Sportowy or Polska The Times as an example. At the end of the day, you have to admit, that although you don t agree with everything we do, the final effects: live broadcasts, professionally managed Team, popularization of MMA in Poland, international response, presence of well-known fighters and MMA stars on KSW events, quality of TV broadcast all these things prove that we run our business properly. If not where is the other KSW? Contrary to common views, we didn t get this for free, we worked for it all.
I know, I ve known you since the beginning. I admit you did a lot of good, but there are some things I d like to complain about. Let s get back to fights. How are the negotiations with Mariusz Pudzianowski going? How much money does he want? Is it true that he wants to be paid 50% in advance?
Unfortunately we can t reveal the total amount.
We have heard some rumors and it is quite a big amount of money...
It s confidential and you couldn t have heard about our offer. The others I don t know what they promise to Mariusz, but I guess they have to charm . Actually he did mention that he d like half of the money in advance, but it wasn t something we spent more than 10 seconds on. It was one of the 50 contract clauses we talked about.
We have our sources...
We had a conversation with Mariusz and his agent twice. After the Easter we re expecting his response. Taking the opportunity I d like to dispatch all the rumors...
Are there any more rumors...
It s us who had been in talks before any of the interested in Mariusz people even had thought about it. Not many know that about three years ago, when I worked in Mariott Hotel I organized a press conference for the Strongman group. After it we talked to Mariusz about the possibility of fighting in KSW, but it wasn t an appropriate moment then. I regret a little bit that now we made this matter public, because we gave others the opportunity for mean comments and questioning our decisions.
Wait a minute! What mean comments? Insiders are just following this topic, nothing more
When someone publicly claims that he started negotiations first, or as I ve heard somewhere that we allegedly haven t met with Mariusz, I call it mean. I d call it differently, but it doesn t behoove me to say that (hahahaha).
There are new boys in the game PRO FIGHT from Olsztyn. You were there with Maciej, you saw it, what s your opinion?
Personally I think that wise competition is good, it supports progress and is desired in business. I look at all these events from different perspective, I pay attention to details, which escape notice of people not involved in organizing such events. In a word: decent show. It s obvious that PRO-FIGHT is some kind of competition, however there is still a long road ahead of them, before they achieve a sporting and mental level comparable to KSW.
Mental? Martin What do you mean?
Intelectual and mature. I don t want to sound big-headed like a MMA mentor , however frequently the behavior of so-called tough guys , who organize MMA events is similar to girl jealousy or playground quarrels. It makes me laugh that you have to praise the ones who kept their word and organized the show . Just look at the criteria used. You re right this is the problem of this sport in this country, when the event actually happens we cry: BRAVO, BRAVO. I hope that never again in any conversation we ll bring up these losers from MCC, whose arrogance surpassed even themselves and to make matters worse they didn t have moral courage to admit that at the end they blew it . To this day they owe money to other companies and left stink in the business.
I remember that day, because I gave invitations to some of my friends as a gift...
Unfortunately this business is exceptionally flawed and attracts lunatics, who believe that staging a MMA show is like organizing an aunt s birthday party or something. I d also like to appeal for not calling all these events held in school gyms as a MMA shows. Show is a word, which refers to something exceptional. For years I ve observed that MMA community is divided between people who are friendly to KSW and the ones, who at all costs and as much as they can try to deprecate our achievements and stab us in the back.
Being involved in such a business you had to expect dealing with jealousy and controversy.
That s right, however I m always not comfortable with such behavior. If you like or not, KSW sets the trends in Polish MMA. We are the flagship of Polish MMA in the world. Do the readers realize that until recently KSW has been the only MMA show in the world broadcasted in free-to-air TV. It is KSW, which Sherdog writes about, HDNet wants to air KSW. We didn t start the MMA in this country, but we made it a sport, a spectacle and we presented it to the wider audience. We reached such a level, that fighters, without exaggeration, from all over the world want to fight for us.
The old return QUEST ARENA (formerly BRYLANT PROMOTIONS). Are there enough fighters in Polish MMA, to fill all these shows?
Of course there are. The quality is diversified, but there is more complete MMA fighters. The time when fighters were formed to compete in MMA is long gone.
KSW Federation has strengthen itself, has stabilized. However, some people have got the impression that you don t progress. The same fighters all the time, triumph of form over content....Obviously you will deny it and present your arguments...
I have no idea where do you see this standstill. Maybe because we moved our show from Champions to Torwar or because we made KSW an international event, where aside from Polish fighters we bring more interesting combatants from all around the globe. You have to remember that we are not supported by any federation, casino or state-run establishment, which would share their funds with us. From what I understand, recurring appearance of KSW Team members is now a problem. Professional sport in the world is built around competitors, who are well-know, who are kind of heroes. These are the type of athletes the biggest organizations strive for and try to build their brand on. We are willing to put KSW Team fighters against any worthy opposition from Poland to determine who deserves to be called the best. Apart from Polish Fighters I d like to remind some names, which participated in the KSW: Shonie Carter, Roman Szaman Szaszkow, Damir Mirenic, Jason Guida, Igor Pokrajac Piotr Bagiński, Francis Carmont, Jordan Radev, Martin Zawada, Valdas Pocevicius, Antonio Mendes, Martin Malhasyan, Olexiy Oliynyk, Moise Rimbon, Dave Dalgliesh, Yusuke Masuda, Vitor Nobrega, Grzegorz Jakubowski, Nikolay Onikienko, Petr Ondrus, Jędrzej Kubski, Michał Materla, Petr Sobotta, Andre Reinders, Christian M Pumbu, Alexander Gustaffson, Daniel Tabera, Michał Fijałka, Antony Rea, Dion Staring, Bojan Kosednar, Maro Perak, Michael Knaap. I din t mention all the fighters who competed at our shows. Tell me please, aren t they well-known MMA fighters? From Poland Jacek Buczko, Karol Bedorf, Robert Jocz and many more took their first steps in professional competition in the KSW I emphasize steps. Other organizations in Poland build their shows around one fight or one fighter, who has already fought for us. It really amazes me. So many fans, including me, were ravished by the old Pride and to this day I regret that they no longer exist. I always looked at Pride shows as a revelation of its kind. Wouldn t you agree with me?
As a matter of fact, no. For me it is triumph of form over content , but I respect your point of view.
Fighters entrances were an unrivalled example.
Triumph of from! I insist! When I want to see a play I go to a theatre, when I want to listen to the music I go to a concert and when I want to see fights I go to a MMA event, but I respect different views.
Theatric play appeals to all senses of the spectator: word, light, sound, shape, motion. Usually theatre is more intimate, it s hard to compare those things.... And are there no form at the music concerts? This is the place where all these multimedia innovations and pyrotechnics are showcased. Or do you only go to the jazz concerts or watch Beckett s plays. Returning to MMA..... In Pride there were no breaks in the broadcast. During KSW events Polsat requires a few commercial breaks. The viewers are used to it and see when the commercials begin. At Torwar the spectators are not aware of that moment thanks to all measures you call a triumph of form over content . All this fuss is for our guests, who come to see KSW live at Torwar, Orbita or Hala Stulecia. We don t want them to be bored with all these breaks. The whole show is for you, for us they re just additional expenses. Others accuse us of being commercialized and hide themselves behind athletic character of their shows. Live broadcast, care about the audience, event budget, all these things differ us from our competition. We may be different breed of people, but we believe that we have chosen the right direction. It doesn t mean that we don t listen to the others advice and we don t follow the new trends.
You have convinced me a little. You can view like this and I respect your efforts. However, I always leave during the breaks to chat with my friends about what has just happened. I don t need spectacle other than fights. Don t let me be misunderstood, when fights are interesting people want to share their impressions with others.
I still don t see how it could disturb you. After all there are no gymnasts with sashes jumping around or musicians with microphones playing during the fights. I don t know if you paid enough attention but a fight is always treated by us with proper respect.... and we even don t have ring girls between rounds. Why all these fight shows in Poland always have to look so shabby to be considered good, or differently to be considered high level sporting competition... Is it a Polish standard entrances from behind the curtain, unlit ring, lack of proper changing rooms for fighters, without even water, poor sound, absolutely no setting etc. Only promoters who can t afford it will defend it.
Let s leave it. Another thing you re exceptional in this matter you don t allow photographers by the ring. Is it going to change? What are the pros and cons of your decision? Some photographers left during the last KSW show, because they couldn t take pictures...
This is a load of rubbish I didn t see anybody leaving, and you re wrong we are not the only ones. Firstly, all over the world, not only in MMA, photographers, journalist are credentialed for the events depending on their involvement. Only in Poland with the fake ID you can attend football games, plays, concerts for free. We don t benefit from 200 photographers at our event. In the end articles and reports will be published only in media we work with. Once we made this test, we let all the journalists, photographers who applied in. There was no effect. They watched the show, took pictures to their portfolios and that s it. When I worked in Marriot I held about 100 sport press conferences in Marriot and I know which journalists we want to work with. Secondly, there is no sense letting so many photographers in, because we offer a complete package of photos for free, in high resolution with publishing rights. Thirdly the photographers limit the view of the spectators ringside and we want to ensure their comfort. Fourthly, we are in control of quality of the pictures. There are three photographers by the ring, who take excellent pictures. We share them without any problems, what do you want more? I have to say that more often than not pictures of these so-called professionals are really miserable. I m really sorry, but we don t plan any changes in this matter.
Marcin Najman who will be his opponent? How is the training going.
He will square off against a fighter, who competed at KSW Extra and defeated Mariusz Slotta Jahmai Satisch. He trains ground game in Częstochowa and with Kostecki in Warsaw, boxing with Mr. Jerzy Kulej. Considering it will be his MMA debut he s doing well. He concentrates on his game plan and takedown defense.
Maybe you should try, please excuse me, pro-wrestling? I know, it s a little bit mean...
Indeed it is. Do you really think that? KSW is pro-wrestling? Tell me please, which fight in your opinion was worked, scripted? I know from reliable source, that such accusations came from your magazine.
Oh no! There were some fights we didn t agree with the judges, but nothing more!
I publicly declare, that no fight at KSW event was ever worked or paid!
What should we expect from the next KSW? New event structure? New set of rules?
May 15th, Torwar, Warsaw KSW 11 and a lot of exciting fights. A lot of changes in this and the next year. The most important thing we introduce new weight classes. In May the under 85 kg tournament begins, in December under 105 kg. Also the structure changes, from the next show, the tournaments will be contested throughout two shows, so at the first event finalist will be determined, and at the next they will fight for the KSW title. Another worth mentioning attraction is the introduction of the International KSW Champion Title. It is going to be one the most prestigious bouts on the whole card. Mamed Khalidov will challenge for the title. We also worked a new judging fights criteria, which along with the rules will appear shortly on our website. In brief it will be very similar to the one used in the UFC with our modification. We decided that it reflects judging of the fights better, without harming anyone. Tomasz Bronder will be another referee for the additional fights. Robert Kostecki will still referee all the tournament bouts. We strongly plan to develop a framework of fighters preparation for the fights under the eye of Michał Garnys, some kind of strength and conditioning training centre. Everyone interested, would be able to come to us and will receive complete information, guidance and care of professionals. The core of whole process are the endurance tests, based on which the individual training is scheduled, along with supplementation, hygiene and diet tips. First trials were conducted during the tests of our fighters. We think about some other fighters, whom we would be glad to see in KSW Team. This year we will release the clothing line entitled KSW Squad . At the beginning it will be a line of t-shits, sweatshirts and gadgets. We begin cooperation with American Top Team. Two of our fighters will fly to Miami to train there this year. First Polish MMA reality show sets off in fall, two of our fighters will coach two teams. We open a website www.kswteam.com devoted exclusively to our fighters. In July we plan to hold a training camp for our fighters.
Thanks for the interview. Sometimes we have different opinions, but I have to admit that the longer I listen to your arguments the more convinced I become. At least in some aspects.
Thanks for your time and I invite you to the May 15th show. More details on our official website www.konfrontacja.com.
Intreview by Piotr Szymanowski