ST. 피터스 버그, 러시아 (12월 15, 2015) – M-1 Global has announced its signing of Russian heavyweight sensation 알렉산더 “드라고” 볼코프 (24-6-0, M-1: 8-3-0) 독점 프로모션 계약.

Volkov will battle 데니스 Smoldarev (11-1-0, M-1: 7-1-0) 2월 19 for the vacant M-1 Challenge heavyweight championship at M-1 도전 64 모스크바, 러시아.

The 27-year-old puncher from Moscow returns to the organization in which he made his professional mixed-martial-arts debut April 19, 2009, needing only 80-seconds to stop Nikolay Pleshokov in the second stage of the M-1 Challenge 2009. Volkov went on to capture top honors in the finals of the M-1 도전 2009, 격파 Ibragim Magomedov for the Russian Team Championships.

(6)′ 7″, 235-pound Volkov fought under the M-1 Global banner for the next two years, highlighted November 20, 2011 by his opening round punch-out of 앞 20,000 fans at M-1 글로벌: 표도르 대. Monson.

그 시점에서, Volkov had won 14 의 17 pro MMA fights and the popular Russian fighter opened 2012 with an impressive decision win over former UFC heavyweight champion 리코 로드리게즈.

Volkov had another victory before heading to the United States in order to test himself in Bellator competition. He won his inaugural Bellator fight against powerful 브렛 로저스, 의 결정에 의해 Bellator 75, in the Bellator Season Seven Heavyweight Tournament.

Two Bellator fights later, Volkov had extended his win streak to 10 연속해서, improving overall to 19-3-0 via five-round decision over Richard Hale to capture the vacant Bellator Heavyweight Championship, as well as finish first in the Bellator Season Seven Heavyweight Tournament in Hammond, 인디애나, 미국.

In his first fight of 2013, Volkov lost his Bellator heavyweight title in his first defense, as fellow countryman 비탈리 Minakov recorded a first-round knockout in Atlantic City, 뉴저지, 미국.

그러나, Volkov rebounded with three straight wins in the Bellator Season 10 헤비급 토너먼트, defeating Bulgarian great Blaygoy Ivanov in the final by way of a second-round rear-naked choke hold. Ivanov is best known, 어쩌면, for defeating living legend 표도르 예 멜리아 넨코 in the semifinals on his way to winning the 2008 세계 삼보 선수권 대회.

Feared as one of the most prolific strikers in MMA today, 17 of Volkov’s 24 overall victims to date were knocked out.

볼코프 (pictured above to left) makes his M-1 Global return against Smoldarev, 에스토니아의, whose only loss as a professional was to 마르신 Tybura (13-1-0, M-1: 7-1-0), who abdicated his M-1 Challenge heavyweight title to reportedly continue his career in the UFC. Tybura made his first successful M-1 Challenge heavyweight title defense November 24, 2014, defeating Smoldarev by third-round submission (초크), 에 M-1 도전 54 베이징, 중국.

The 25-year-old Smoldarev (shown above in the black trunks) has impressive victories against Ante Delia, 마로 페락, Ahmed Sultanov 과 Shaban Ka. Smoldarev is also a physical specimen, 6 서′ 5″ and weighing close to 270 파운드.

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