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| Mikhail Zayats was too much for Marcus Vanttinen |
HELSINKI, Finland (August 6, 2017) – Russian light heavyweight Mikhail Zayats defeated Marcus “Caveman” Vanttinen by unanimous decision in last night’s M-1 Challenge 82main event, which headlined the first M-1 Global event held in Finland during the last nine years.
Zayats (23-8-0, M-1: 13-5-0) returned to an M-1 Global-promoted event for the first time in nearly six years. The Russian strongman see pictured below), who had fought the past few years in Bellator, ruined the night for local favorite Vanttinen (24-6-0, M-1: 2-3-0), one of six Finnish fighters on the Helsinki card.
International fighters represented nine different countries: Russia, Finland, Brazil, USA, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Ukraine and Sweden.
Finnish bantamweight Janne “Jambo” Elonen-Kulmala (15-5-1, M-1: 0-0-1) and Brazilian veteran fighter Heilton (Dos Santos) Davella (15-6-1, M-1: 0-1-1) fought to a three-round split-draw, Finnish flyweight Mikhail “Hulk” Silander (17-5-0, M-1: 1-0-0) took a three-round unanimous decision from Vitali Branchuk (22-7-0, M-1: 2-3-0), of Ukraine.
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| (L) Silander made hometown fans happy |
Russian lightweight prospect Pavel Gordeev (8-1-0, M-1: 3-0-0) and Ukrainian welterweight Alexander “Iron Capture” Butenko (44-12-3, M-1: 10-2-1), respectively, won three-round unanimous decisions over Brazilian Michel “Sassarito” Silva (18-7-0, M-1: 0-2-0) and American Keith “The One” Johnson (12-3-0, M-1: 1-1-0).
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| Gordeev is a promising prospect |
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| (L) Butenko and Johnson put on a good show. |
Also on the main card, Finnish welterweight Juho Valamaa (15-4-0, M-1: 1-0-0) made a successful M-1 debut with a first-round technical knockout victory of Portugal’s Aires Bendrouis (10-6-0, M-1: 0-1-0).
On the preliminary card, Swedish bantamweight Son Le “Buddah” Binh (5-3-0, M-1: 1-2-0) lost a three-round unanimous decision to Oleg Lichkovakha (8-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0), fighting out of Russia, and Ukrainian heavyweight Boris “Bora” Polezhay (17-6-0, M-1: 2-1-0) defeated Finland’s Toni Valtonen (27-16-0, M-1: 6-3-0) by decision.
Russian middleweight Ruslan Shamolov (3-0-0, M-1: 3-0-0) stopped American“Motown” Moses Murrietta (5-1-0, M-1: 1-1-0) in the opening round, French lightweightArnaud Kherfallah (4-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0) used a guillotine choke to force Patrik Pietila (8-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0), of Finland, to tap-out in round one, and Russian flyweight Akaki Khorava (2-2-0, M-1: 0-1-0) tapped out in the second round as his Swiss opponent,Frederico “Muskito” Gutzwiller (3-2-0, M-1: 1-0-0), locked on an arm-bar.
In M-1’s popular Medieval Fight, Ukrainian heavyweight Vladimir Nicheporenkodefeated Russian Yuro Slobodyanik by way of a first-round knockout.
Complete results below:
OFFICIAL RESULTS
MAIN CARD
MAIN EVENT – LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Mikhail Zayats (23-8-0, M-1: 13-5-0), Russia
WDEC3
Marcus Vanttinen (24-7-0, M-1: 2-3-0), Finland lbs. (kg)
WELTERWEIGHTS
Juho Valmaa (14-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Finland
WTKO1 (4:52 – referee stoppage)
Aires Bendrouis (10-5-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Portugal
Alexander Butenko (44-12-3, M-1: 10-2-1), Ukraine
WDEC3
Keith Johnson (12-3-0, M-1: 1-1-0), USA
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Pavel Gordeev (8-1-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia
WDEC3
Michel Silva (18-7-0, M-1: 0-2-0), Brazil
BANTAMWEIGHTS
Janne Elonen-Kulmala (15-5-1, M-1: 0-0-1), Finland
D3
Heilton (Dos Santos) Davella (15-6-1, M-1: 0-1-1), Brazil
FLYWEIGHTS
Mikael Silander (17-5-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Finland
WDEC3
Vitali Branchuk (22-7-0, M-1: 2-3-0), Ukraine
PRELIMINARY CARD
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Boris Polezhay (17-6-0, M-1: 2-1-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Toni Valtonen (27-16-0, M-1: 6-3-0), Finland
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Ruslan Shamilov (3-0-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia
WKO1 (3:10)
Moses Murrietta (5-1-0, M-1: 1-1-0), USA
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Arnaud Kherfallah (4-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0), France
WSUB1 (4:22 – guillotine choke)
Patrik Pietila (8-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Finland
BANTAMWEIGHTS
Oleg Lichkovakha (8-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Russia
WDEC3
Son Le Binh (5-3-0, M-1: 1-2-0), Sweden
FLYWEIGHTS
Frederico Gutzwiller (3-2-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Switzerland
WSUB2 (1:59 – armbar)
Akaki Khorava (2-2-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Georgia
MEDIEVAL FIGHT
HEAVYWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Vladimir Nicheporenko, Ukraine
WKO1 (1:22)
Yuri Sloboyanik, Russia
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Past M-1 Challenge events have featured leading Finnish fighters over the years such as Marcus “Caveman” Vanttinen (pictured on left), Juha-Pekka Vainikainen, Niko Puhakka, Janne Tulirinta, Toni Valtonen and Lucio “Spartan” Linares. Some of these fighters will be competingAugust 5 at M-1 Challenge 82.
Mikael “Hulk” Silander (16-5-0, M-1:0-0-0), 31, has an appropriate nickname. Powerfully built and possessing explosive physical force, he puts pressure on his rivals from the first second of the battle, using his grappling skills to his full advantage. Having won 15 of his 20 fights, Silander is matched against M-1 Challenge title challenger Viali Branchuk (22-6-0, M-1: 2-2-0), of Ukraine,
Valtonen (27-15-0, M-1: 6-2-0) returns to M-1 action against Ukrainian heavyweight Boris “Bora” Polezhay(16-6-0, M-1: 1-1-0. Valtonen has been an MMA fighter for 14 years and for much of that time-period he has been one of the stars of Finnish MMA-promotion, Fight Festival, which was successful at the 2009 M-1 World Championship Challenge. Valtonen fought in KSW and Shooto competitions. Another Helsinki native on the M-1 Challenge 82, Valtonen figures to have tremendous support at Hartwell Arena.
Binh is always in great physical shape and he has very good stamina. All eight of his fights went the distance but none were boring. In a contest against another Swedish prospect, Bilal Musa, Bing fractured his leg at the beginning of the second round, yet fought through the paid to earn victory by way of a three-round decision. In his very interesting M-1 debut against Emin Guseyov, who has an excellent strike technique. Binh used his wrestling and grappling skills, which he was taught by coach Babak Nejad, who also trains UFC star Anthony Johnson, to win a three-round decision.