Interview with Fedor Emelianenko offers fresh look at the former MMA star

Rarely has a sports star at the top of his profession for as long as Fedor Emelianenko remained so relatively anonymous.

The notoriously private Russian reached a mythical status among MMA fans by the mid-point of the 2000s, but remained an enigma to even the most tuned-in among them.

Michael Schiavello, the longtime MMA broadcaster, discovered that as he was preparing for an hour-long interview with Emelianenko that will air Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on AXS TV on his series, "The Voice Versus." He spent nearly a month preparing for the interview and still wasn't able to come up with much.

"The fact that so many people consider Fedor the greatest mixed martial arts fighter ever, or at least one of the top five, and he's such a major figure in this sport and in its history and yet he's still shrouded in such mystery and intrigue was compelling to me," Schiavello said. "The longest interview with him I could find was only about 10 or 12 minutes.

"Sometimes during my preparations, I began to think, 'Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew here.' The longest thing he did was 10 minutes on Russian TV, where they're talking Russian, he knows the hosts and he was at his most comfortable. And I'm trying to get him to sit down for an hour to do an interview on American TV."

Schiavello had to battle to pry information from Emelianenko, and while Emelianenko's defense was good, Schiavello got him to open more than anyone previously had been able to do.

If you're looking for a window deep into Emelianenko's soul and what makes him tick, this isn't the interview for you. But Schiavello did a wonderful job of putting Emelianenko at ease and getting him to at least peel back the curtain a bit to offer a glimpse into his life and character.

Schiavello didn't baby him during the interview. Emelianenko came without any members of his management team and agreed to Schiavello's stipulation that the interpreter would be of Schiavello's choosing.

Reporters who have covered Emelianenko throughout his career have been frustrated because his interpreter was frequently suspected of editing his answers on the fly.

What then emerged was a bland, vanilla guy without much human emotion.

Schiavello used MMA manager Mike Kogan to do the interpreting and the result was an astoundingly good interview.

The interview started with a relative softball question. Schiavello asked about Emelianenko's childhood and if he received much love from his parents. The answer wasn't noteworthy, but Schiavello was pleased because it helped put Emelianenko at ease and lay the groundwork for the tougher questions to come.

"Fedor is a tough nut to crack, and obviously, I was hoping he wouldn't sit there for an hour and give me one- and two-word answers," Schiavello said. "I felt it made sense that to get him to open up, it was best to do it slowly and, for the lack of a better term, kind of warm his heart early on. Everybody can talk about their childhood and their memories and their parents, and I think that established something that relaxed him.

"I think he realized I wasn't there trying to be a jerk and to exploit him."

Emelianenko discussed his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his opinion of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, the differences in style between he and his brother, Aleksander, his toughest match and, of course, his difficulties with the UFC.

Schiavello asked Emelianenko about the problems he had dealing with UFC President Dana White and whether he felt his legacy was tarnished by never having fought in the UFC.

"Well, the UFC didn't want me to fight there, so what could I do?" Emelianenko said. "We were unable to make a deal. They offered unacceptable conditions. Actually, when I fought in Pride, we had the best fighters in the world. Back then, the UFC had a very big and serious crisis. They were going through some hard times being able to get some top fighters. All the best fighters were in Pride.

"Later on, when Pride ceased to exist, the UFC didn't immediately pick up speed. Currently, the UFC is a super organization in the world, probably the best. There are several top fighters in every weight category."

Schiavello showed Emelianenko a clip of an interview he'd done with White in which White said that one of the conditions Emelianenko's management had for him to sign with the UFC was for the promotion to build an arena in Moscow.

Emelianenko grinned wanly and denied it.

He spoke of his toughest matches, how close he'd come to fighting Randy Couture and a number of other topics.

Though there are no shocking moments in the interview and Emelianenko doesn't make any breathtaking comments, it's a fascinating, well-done interview that will appeal to any MMA fan.