| ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Jan. 15, 2015) – A potentially explosive heavyweight match between past M-1 Challenge title challenger Denis Smoldarev and veteran Maro “Man Machine” Perak has been added to M-1 Global’s 2015 season-opening event, February 21, at M-1 Challenge 55: Guram Gugenishvili Memorial Show in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Former M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Kenny “Deuce” Garner (14-8-0, 7 KO/TKO) versus Chechen prospect Aslambek “Titan” Musaev (5-1-0, 1 KO/TKO, 2 SUB) was announced earlier this week.
M-1 Challenge 55, honoring the memory of the first M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili, will be streamed live in high definition onwww.M1Global.TV. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Andriod and Apple smart phones and tablets.
The 24-year-old Smoldarev (9-1-0, 3 KO/TKO, 4 SUB) and dangerous Perak (23-4-1, 12 KO/TKO, 7 SUB), ironically, are both coming off losses to reigning M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Marcin “Tybur” Tybura (12-0-0, 3 KO/TKO, 7 SUB).
Smoldarev, fighting out of Estonia, was choked into a submission by Tybura in the opening round of their title fight last November at M-1 Challenge 53: Battle in the Celestial Empire in Beijing, China. Despite getting in a few early shots on Tybura, Smoldarev allowed the defending champion to fight on the ground, resulting in a rear naked choke that halted the action.
The invaluable experience he gained in his last fight, though, should enable Smoldarev to grow as an overall MMA fighter, something he desperately will need fighting a battle-tested opponent such as Perak.
Perak, 32, is the lone fighter in M-1 Challenge competition to extend Tybura past the first round. The tough Croatian was stopped by Tybura’s punches in the third round of their fight this past April at M-1 Challenge 47: Battle in the Heart of the Continent in Orenburg, Russia.
Perak also has revenge on his mind. Last year, Smoldarev defeated one of Perak’s students, Ante Delija, by second-round submission. The most impressive victory on the aggressive fighting Perak’s record, perhaps, is his stoppage of Bob Sapp in 2011.
All fights and fighters are subject to change. Additional fights will soon be announced.
Fight Network will air M-1 Challenge 55 live on Cablevision’s Optimum TV, Grande Communications, Shentel Cable and Armstrong Cable in the U.S., as well as nationwide in Canada, on Roku devices across North America, and globally in more than 30 countries throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Information
www.M-1Global.com
www.mixfight.ru
www.WMMAA.org
www.M1Global.TV
Twitter & Instagram:
@M1Global
@VadimFinkelchteinM1
@M1GlobalNews
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244 |
