How marketable is Fedor Emelianenko?
This is it for Emelianenko and his crew of promoters, media managers and marketers. After pining to get him in front of American audiences under their terms, Emelianenko will fight on network television, meaning the scope of his worth as a sellable mixed martial artist should finally be determined. Will a non-English-speaking European athlete captivate an American audience? It hasn’t happened in boxing, though few foreign pugilists have appeared on American soil with the kind of support Emelianenko boasts among ardent MMA watchers. The expectation from network executives is for hardcore fans to watch in droves on Saturday. This we know. But what about casual fans who committed themselves in record numbers to viewing ratings king Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson on CBS, Showtime and SpikeTV? Without “media lightning rods” like Slice or Gina Carano, both of whom deserve credit for pulling substantial ratings in the all-important male 18-34 demographic, Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice presi
