(R) Antun Racic fires “Killer” strike
ST. Petersburg, Russia (January 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 ba-Bothata ba 64 ka February 19 at Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
Antun “Killer” Racic, ea Croatia, 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 ba-Bothata ba 64karete ya, pakeng tsa Somotolo Vitruk (12-2-0, M-1 ba-: 6-2-0) and undefeated Kazakhstan-native Sergey Morozov (6-0-0, M-1 ba-: 2-0-0). Vitruk is a Ukrainian-born fighter who lives and trains out of St. Petersburg, Russia.
The main event pits three-time Bellator champion Alexander “Sefefo” Shlemenko(51-9-0, M-1 ba-: 2-0-0) and former M-1 Challenge middleweight and light heavyweight titlist Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (27-3-0, M-1 ba-: 10-1-0) in the semifinals of the M-1 Global Grand Prix Middleweight Tournament.
A ho sebdisana tšobotsi, newly signed Alexander “Drago” Volkov (24-6-0, M-1 ba-: 8-3-0), ea Russia, takes on Estonian challenger Denis Smoldaraev (11-1-0, M-1 ba-: 7-1-0) for the vacant M-1 Challenge heavyweight championship.
Racic (18-6-1, M-1 ba-: 6-2-0) is coming off of an impressive win by decision versus Alexei Nevzorov last September at M-1 ba-Bothata ba 61. The powerful Croatian, who is a standout grappler, is dropping down to fight as a bantamweight.
Branchuk (20-5-0, M-1 ba-: 0-1-0) will be fighting in his second M-1 Global event, the first two years ago at M-1 Phephetso 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 ea bahanyetsi ba hae ka.
M-1 ba-Bothata ba 64 will be streamed live from Moscow in high definition onwww.M1Global.TV. Bashebelli tla ba khona ho shebella selelekela lintoa le ka sehloohong karete ya ka logging pele ho ngodisa ka www.M1Global.TV. Fans ka 'na shebella tsohle tse ka khato ka lik'homphieutha tsa bona, hammoho le ka Android le Apple Smart phone le matlapa a.
