ST. Petersburg, Russia (Lub ib hlis ntuj 19, 2017) – M-1 Global has announced that 2016 M-1 Grand Prix middleweight champion Alexander “Cua daj cua dub” Shlemenko yuav tawm xov xwm M-1 sib tw 75 nyob rau hauv Moscow.

It has also been announced that American lightweight Keon “The Black Assassin” Caldwell will make his M-1 Global debut versus former M-1 Challenge lightweight champion Maxim Divnich.

M-1 sib tw 75 will be streamed live from Moscow in high definition on www.M1Global.TV. Cas rau cov neeg yuav tsum tau mus saib qhov ua nteg fights thiab cov ntsiab card los txiav rau sau npe rau hauv www.M1Global.TV. Kiv cua yuav saib tag nrho cov txiav txim rau lawv computers, raws li tau zoo raws li nyob rau hauv thiab kua ntse xov tooj thiab cov ntsiav tshuaj.

Shlemenko (54-9-0. 1 NC, M-1: 4-0-0), a three-time Bellator champion, yeej qub M-1 sib tw yeej Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (see picture above with Shlemenko on right) last year in the M-1 Grand Prix Middleweight Championship semifinals and championship final, feem, by three-round majority decision and third-round submission (zawm caj pas yog). Shlemenko vs. Vasilevsky I & II were the M-1 Challenge 68 & 64 Fights of the Night.

In a much-anticipated All-Russian middleweight showdown, Shlemenko was supposed to fight reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Ramadan Emeev, who was unfortunately injured during training camp, forcing him out of that match. Vasilevsky replaced Emeev against Shlemenko in the championship final.

Nyob rau hauv nws cov nag txiav txim, Shlemenko stopped Kendall Grove in the second round of their main event fight on Bellator 162 last October in Memphis, Tennessee.

“Alexander Shlemenko fighting in Russia is always a significant event,” M-1 ntiaj teb no tus thawj tswj hwm Vadim Finkelchtein hais tias, “as he is a true legend of Russian MMA. His fights always sellout arenas, no matter who his opponent. We all know that the story we started last year at M<-1 Grand Prix 2016 isn’t over, tsis tau. The whole country is waiting for the fight between Russia’s two best middleweights – Alexander Shlemenko and Ramazan Emeev.

“Ramazan was injured and Shlemenko had contractual obligations with Bellator. Yog li ntawd, throughout the past month, we were waiting for Shlemenko to receive permission to fight in Russia. Tam sim no, we have arranged for him to fight on M-1 sib tw 75. We’ve done a great job to make this possible and now hope that, lub sij hawm no, we will be able to complete this exciting story.”

Undefeated M-1 Challenge welterweight champion Alexey Kunchenko (15-0-0, M-1: 7-0-0), ntawm Russia, will defend his title against an opponent to be announced, due to originally announced Kazakh challenger, unbeaten Shaukat Rakhmonov (7-0-0, M-1: 4-0-0), withdrawing due to a knee injury.

Russian welterweight prospect Sergey “Streetfighter” Romanov (10-1-0, M-1: 3-0-0) faces Russian veteran Magomed “Tus Dawb Hma” Sultanakhmedov (18-5-0, M-1: 10-1-0) nyob rau hauv lub M-1 sib tw 75 card.

Caldwell (11-3-0, M-1: 0-0-0), fighting out of Georgia, is the US-based Island Fights champion. A powerful puncher who has nine knockouts in his 11 pro victories, Caldwell was supposed to compete in the 13^th season of Qhov kawg Fighter, but he withdrew due to personal reasons. He has had several fights in World Series of Fighting.

A Ukrainian fighting out of Moscow, Divnich captured the vacant M-1 Challenge lightweight title in 2014 ntawm M-1 sib tw 54, siv ceev xwmphem Dzhambulat Kurbanov in the third round on punches in the Fight of the Night. Nyob rau hauv 2015, Divnich lost his first title defense by third-round knockout to Mansour Barnaoui ntawm M-1 sib tw 57. Nyob rau hauv nws cov nag sib ntaus, Artiom Damkovsky knocked out Divnich with a kick in the second-round of their fight this past September at M-1 sib tw 70.

NTAUB NTAWV:

www.M1Global.tv

@ M1GlobalNews

VFinkelchtein

@ M1Global

M-1 sib tw 74 – Feb. 18, 2017 – St. Petersburg, Russia

M-1 sib tw 75 – Lub peb hlis ntuj 3, 2017 – Moscow, Russia