Monte Cox made an appearance on the Savage Dog Show on the Sherdog Radio Network last Friday in what turned out to be a very informative interview from the perspective on an insider. Monte Cox talked about television deals, his perspective on his current conflict of interest with managing fighters, and possibilities of how M-1 plans on marketing a Russian who doesn't speak English, but speaks with loud banging fists to the face and breaking arms. Not only will we go over some of the things that were talked about, but we will analyze some of the comments and dig deep into what this possibly means for M-1

Television deals in the future

As we've known for quite some time now, a television deal is first on the list of things that M-1 Global plans to get done first. At the press conference, it was evident that a deal for the organization would lock in at least some revenues and exposure for the organization to get a foothold into the market. According to Monte Cox, M-1 Global has been seeking a deal from a number of suitors. There is no confirmation on the deal, even though there have been rumors. Cox confirmed that M-1 was still meeting with organizations on Friday and against on Monday to discuss terms of deals. He stated that on Tuesday, the organization will begin mulling over the terms of each deal and pick the best one that fits the organization. He did mention one confirmation of a rumor. ESPN is apparently in the running. As RussianMMA had thought, ESPN is in the picture, but we are not sure as to what capacity they are willing to give M-1 Global.

Here's a thought that you can all think about as far as this deal goes. ESPN is one of the only mainstream media sources that completely dedicated to sports. They've broadcast everything from the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, Summer Roller Hockey Leagues, Pool Tournaments, Bowling Championships, and World Softball Championships. They've broadcast some of the most obscure sports that don't have the fan following that the UFC or MMA in general have. Why wouldn't they think about pushing a deal to bring MMA to the mainstream? It's a possibility if you really think about it, although it seems too risky for ESPN to deal with. Let's look at this for a minute.

ESPN may have passed on the UFC for a number of reasons. We can speculate all of them along with Dana White's crude attitude, but we all know a good number of the reasons. There are a number of perks. M-1 will have  CEO who is respectable in the sport and says the right things. They will also bring a professional feel to the sport, theatrical production, and big name fights. The ring is often overlooked as well. It's the key item that people associate with boxing, and maybe it'll happen to appeal to people who follow boxing in the ring. This has been mentioned by some fans, but I doubt it'll have any effect. I haven't seen any numbers on the IFL and how many boxing fans actually watch IFL. Will M-1's professionalism, theatrical feel, and overall better representation be enough to land that type of deal? We'll find out.

Also during the interview, Monte Cox also mentioned something very odd. They were actually contemplating a reality series in the U.S. to get the fans to get to know Fedor Emelianenko. I found this unbelievably odd considering I have never seen a reality show on U.S. television that featured someone who needed a translator for the entire season of the show. Matt Hamill somewhat did, but I could actually understand him for the most part without a sign language expert and subtitles. Can a reality show really expose us to the fighter they call the baddest man on the face of the Earth? I doubt it very much. Fedor is a great fighter and says some of the most respectful things in the media, but his soft spoken nature doesn't seem to be something that will sell. What do you see on reality TV these days? Hateful judges yelling at contestants, people beating each other up, drunken guys hitting on girls and then being arrested, and Dana White asking fighters if they want to "f*cking fight". My point... reality television is riddled with violence, crudeness, and sex. That's what grabs viewers, not a soft spoken Russian who doesn't look like he can fight, but destroys people. Unless they have Fedor beating people senseless in every episode, don't count on this tactic working.

Conflicts of interest

One of the biggest issues that has come up with the hiring of Monte Cox is the conflict of interest between Monte managing fighters and dealing with managers trying to sign fighters to his promotion. The conflict of interest resides in the fact that if one of Monte's fighters wants to sign with M-1 Global, he will be in the position as to trying to get the best deal for his own fighter, but also trying to get the best deal for the promotion. Cox stated a solution in the interview. If one of his fighters becomes a free agent and there is an interest by M-1 Global to sign that fighter, Monte Cox has actually stated he would step down from the board at M-1 Global temporarily to negotiate a deal. He also stated that T.J. Thompson would be a replacement in the negotiations and act on behalf of M-1 Global. A very classy move in my eyes. Not only does he eliminate the conflict of interest, but he can maintain his stable of fighters who rely on him for management.

Will this actually work? I don't know, I guess we'll see with the prospect of Ben Rothwell possibly signing with M-1. At least it's an attempt to break the conflict of interest. Could Monte Cox do what Dana White couldn't when he became CEO of the UFC? It'll be very interesting to see.

*CORRECTION*

It's actually vice versa. Cox would step off the board, but TJ Thompson would act as negotiator for the FIGHTER.