(R) Antun Racic fires “Assassino” strike

ST. PETERSBURG, Rússia (Janeiro 28, 2016) – M-1 Global’s first event of 2016 is shaping up as a potential blockbuster with the announcement of the second M-1 Challenge bantamweight elimination fight for M-1 Desafio 64 em Fevereiro 19 no Estádio Olímpico de Moscou.

Antun “Assassino” Racic, da Croácia, will face Ukrainian Vitaly Branchuk for right to fight for the vacant M-1 Challenge bantamweight championship. The survivor will advance to the championship round against the winner of the previously announced M-1 Challenge bantamweight semifinal eliminator, also part of the M-1 Desafio 64cartão, entre Pavel Vitruk (12-2-0, M-1: 6-2-0) and undefeated Kazakhstan-native Sergey Morozov (6-0-0, M-1: 2-0-0). Vitruk is a Ukrainian-born fighter who lives and trains out of St. Petersburg, Rússia.

The main event pits three-time Bellator champion Alexander “Tempestade” Shlemenko(51-9-0, M-1: 2-0-0) and former M-1 Challenge middleweight and light heavyweight titlist Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (27-3-0, M-1: 10-1-0) in the semifinals of the M-1 Global Grand Prix Middleweight Tournament.

Na co-metragem, newly signed Alexander “Drago” Volkov (24-6-0, M-1: 8-3-0), da Rússia, enfrenta o desafiante da Estônia Denis smoldaraev (11-1-0, M-1: 7-1-0) para o campeonato de peso pesado vago do M-1 Challenge.

Racic (18-6-1, M-1: 6-2-0) is coming off of an impressive win by decision versus Alexei Nevzorov last September at M-1 Desafio 61. The powerful Croatian, who is a standout grappler, is dropping down to fight as a bantamweight.

Branchuk (20-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0) will be fighting in his second M-1 Global event, the first two years ago at M-1 Desafio 45, in which he lost a decision to Yunus Evloev. The 24-year-old Branchuk is riding a seven-fight win streak. Known as a strong striker, he has knocked out 10 de seus adversários.