M-1 owners announced
In a Monday press release, it was announced that the newly formed Sibling Sports, LLC is the company behind M-1 Global, LLC, a new mixed martial arts company believed to be the new home of highly sought after free agent Fedor Emelianenko.
It was also revealed that Monte Cox, veteran of the MMA industry, was named President and CEO of M-1 Global.
Though not stated in the release, it is believed that M-1 Global will, at a press conference on Monday, be announced as the organization that has signed Emelianenko, currently ranked as the No. 1 heavyweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly.com.
"We are excited to announce the formation of Sibling Sports, LLC and our new mixed martial arts organization M-1 Global," said Mitchell Maxwell, President and CEO of Sibling Holdings. "Mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport in America. It is the boxing of the 21st century.
"We have pulled together a world-class group of people to lead our new organization. Our new management team has extensive mixed martial arts experience in Europe, Russia, Asia and the U.S.,” he continued.
"We are pleased to announce Monte Cox as our CEO. Monte has been recognized as one of the most influential persons in mixed martial arts in the world today. He is generally considered one of the world's most successful fight managers, having produced a record seven world champions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and built an impressive team of nearly 60 world-class competitors."
“It’s exciting,” Cox told MMAWeekly.com. “I’ve accomplished almost everything a person can accomplish in MMA. I’ve managed world champions. I’ve take guys from the beginning of their careers and seen them grow, helping them along. I’ve run smaller shows. The one thing I haven’t done is I’ve never worked for a big show.
“All of us in MMA sit back and criticize and talk about how if it was us, we’d do it different. Well, now I have that opportunity.”
"I have been involved in mixed martial arts for almost 13 years. While I have been offered many other positions over the years, this is the first one that I have accepted,” said Cox. “I am elated to have the opportunity to work with Mitchell Maxwell and the great team of managers he has been able to assemble. We look forward to continuing to move mixed martial arts into the mainstream, not only here in the U.S., but worldwide.
"We have developed an alliance with M-1 Mix Fight and we are honored to be working with Vadim Finkelchtein, Apy Echteld, and Joost Raimond. They have many years of experience managing fighters and staging events in Europe, Russia, and Asia. Rounding out our new management team are Bob Clark, currently serving as President of Sibling Theatricals, and Brian Patton, a CPA, and business manager for MMA legend Matt Hughes."
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