ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (January 9, 2017) – A serious knee injury requiring surgery has forced undefeated Kazakhstan challenger Shaukat Rakhmonov (7-0-0, M, I: 4-0-0) to withdraw from his first title fight, March 3 against unbeaten M-1 Challenge welterweight champion Alexey Kunchenko (15-0-0, M, I: 7-0-0), of Russia, at M-I provocare 75 in Moscoviae.

“I wanted this fight badly and put a lot of effort into preparation for it,” a dejected Rakhmonov explained. “Infeliciter, I tore ligaments in my knee and, based on my medical exam, I will need surgery soon. I apologize to all the MMA fans who were anticipating this fight. I’ll do my best to return stronger than ever.”

Welterweight prospectu Sergey “Streetfighter” Romanov (10-1-0, M, I: 3-0-0) takes on Russian veteran Magomed “Lupus Albo” Sultanakhmedov (18-5-0, M, I: 10-1-0) in M-I provocare 75 card.

M-I provocare 75 will be streamed live from Moscow in high definition on www.M1Global.TV. Spectatores pugnae summa verti posset intueri card per colligationem in subcriptio www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all the action on their computers, Apple Android captiosus phones et dextralia necnon.