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Every Wednesday, Administrative Editor Jordan Breen welcomes a member of the mixed martial arts media into “Press Row” on the Sherdog.com blog. This week, Breen is joined by BloodyElbow's Karim Zidan.

Russia has played a formative role in mixed martial arts since the mid-1990's and with the international expansion of the sport, as well as the legendary and historic role Fedor Emelianenko has played in its history, the influence and importance of Russia and other post-Soviet states has steadily expanded. Breen and Zidan discuss how and why that power and influence -- and the money behind it -- has especially intensified recently, why Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is so obsessed with MMA, his Akhmat MMA team, being reprimanded by the Kremlin for his child MMA bouts and the future of his stable's fighters, such as Magomed Bibulatov and Abdul-Kerim Edilov in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Breen and Zidan also touch on what the future holds for UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, why elements of Fedor Emelianenko fandom are couched in bizarre Russian stereotypes, upstart Chechen promotion Absolute Championship Berkut and its recent free agent signing spree, if there's Kadyrov money behind ACB and how the promotion was able to snap up so many UFC and Bellator MMA veterans.

Grab your credential and get a seat in “Press Row.”

The above file can be saved in MP3 format here.

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