Tag Archives: Vadim Finkelchtein

mixed martial arts, MMA, WMMAA

Vadim Finkelchtein: “The Emelianenko-Maldonado situation is getting ridiculous”

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MONTE CARLO, Monaco(July 28, 2016)- World MMA Association (WMMAA) Vadim Finkelchtein has gone public to explain the recent WMMAA decision regarding Team Maldonado’s appeal, which resulted in the change of the official Fedor Emelianenko–Fabio Maldonado fight result to a draw, in addition to terminating its Head of Judges, Radmir Gabdullin.
 

WMMAA president Vadim Finkelchtein
 
Vadim, talk us through the appeal process. Why did you accept it in the first place since Russian MMA Union rejected Maldonado manager’s appeal?
 
VF: “Everyone could see what was going on in the media and MMA community after the bout. Being the founder of both the Russian MMA Union and World MMA Association, I received tons of messages and calls from people demanding an explanation about how it was possible for Russian MMA Union employees to officiate their own boss’ fight. I read hundreds of negative comments disparaging the Russian MMA Union and WMMAA. Some even went so far to say it was about Russian Mafia doing business there, all Russian judges are bought, etc. I tried to stay away from this debacle, since the fight occurred in another promotion, but when Maldonado’s manager sent an appeal to the WMMAA, asking to reassess the fight outcome, we couldn’t say no. WMMAA’s reputation was on the line as well as that of the Russian MMA scene, too.”
What did the process of choosing the reassessment commission look like and why was head judge Radmir Gabdullin suspended?
 
VF: “Basically, I had to make Radmir, as the WMMAA’s head judge, responsible for the whole process. However, since he was one of the reasons the appeal surfaced in the first place, the most logical decision was to suspend him temporarily and appoint WMMAA’s Secretary General (Alexander Engelhardt) to handle it.”
In his recent interview, Radmir Gabdullin belittled the significance of WMMAA’s verdict, stating it was all unofficial and that he had never received any appeal.
 
VF: “There’s nothing to comment about here. It’s a pure lie. I don’t understand what he was trying to accomplish by saying something like this. If necessary, I can show the manager’s e-mail with Russian MMA Union employees, Kamil Gadzhiev and WMMAA employees as recipients. Saying he’s never received an appeal is absurd and a silly excuse.”
At the same time he insulted the professionals that reassessed the fight by calling them incompetent.
 
VF: “When I read it my first reaction was vast disappointment. How could he, as the official head judge, state something like this towards his colleagues who he knows really well? He used to officiate multiple events with them. Their experience is ten or maybe even hundred times greater than Radmir’s. Marco Broersen has been officiating major European events, including KSW, M-1 Global and many others, for 15 years. He’d been working in this field when Radmir was still in school. It’s a shame for him to say something like that. It’s degrading for both Radmir and the Russian MMA Union.”
Can you explain why 24-year-old Radmir had been chosen to become the head judge in both WMMAA and Russian MMA Union having no experience or appropriate education whatsoever?
 
VF: “You know, it all started back in 2010-2011, when I decided to start developing amateur MMA in order to provide thousands of young athletes with career opportunities. For that to happen the MMA Union in Russia was necessary, as well as official recognition of Mixed Martial Arts as a sport. It was hard. I had no experience working in a Federation; plenty of paper work. We lacked a qualified staff when we started to look for people. I offered Fedor Emelianenko to be the Union president with me heading the WMMAA. Gabdullin’s name was mentioned by Fedor. He said there was this young and promising guy, let’s see what he can do. I agreed completely, although I realized he had neither experience nor knowledge.”
What was your reaction to Kamil Gadzhiev’s comments claiming in each interview that a draw was the best outcome, but after the result was changed by Sherdog following the WMMAA’s verdict, he changed his mind and promised to call and mail Sherdog to protest its action?
 
VF: “I had a phone chat with Kamil. He made it clear that he trusts the WMMAA and Russian MMA Union, while repeating his personal opinion that the draw would be the most righteous decision. I don’t know why his words were not consequently supported by his deeds.”
Russian MMA Union has a lot of officials. Yet, no one would comment on the situation, including Fedor himself. Why is that?
 
VF: “I can’t answer this question. Most important for me is justice and reputation and that holds for Russian MMA and WMMAA, too. I couldn’t choose sides, which is the reason why an international commission of judges was created. No one tried to take the other man’s victory, as some have claimed in comments. As the WMMAA president, I feel ashamed the situation went that far. The vast majority of the leading MMA sites supported the WMMAA’s verdict; Sherdog changed the outcome. Another example is the Match TV poll result, in which 56-percent of Russian voters said Fedor didn’t win the fight. ‘Big’ John McCarthy said it. Sergey Kharitonov,Alexey Oleinik and many others have said the same. People who have been cheering for Fedor for years realized that. And now we have one person stating the opposite, saying our decision is unofficial, that experienced judges have become incompetent in no time, and he’d never received an appeal. That’s a sad situation and we need to handle it appropriately. The world awaits sound and reasoned decisions but gets excuses and lies instead. Our reputation is on the line because of that.”
Schedule of Major 2016 MMA Events
Aug.3-8 – Asian MMA Championship in Hwasun, South Korea
Sept. 14-16 – European MMA Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia
Oct. 7-9 – Inaugural Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile
Nov. 18-20 – World MMM Championship in Macau, China
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Twitter:  @theWMMAA
Instagram: @worldmmaa
mixed martial arts, MMA, WMMAA

WMMAA terminates head of judges Radmir Gabdullin

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MONTE CARLO, Monaco(July 20, 2016)- The World MMA Association (WMMAA) has terminated its Head of Judges, Radmir Gabdullin, due to his imprudence, inexperience, and technical inability to evaluate Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in the professional sector.
 
Regarding recent statements that he recently made in the Russian press, Gabdullin expressed himself disrespectfully to other colleague judges, WMMAA Board member Alexander Engelhardt and the Association itself, as Worldwide WMMAA President Vadim Finkelchtein expressed, “One of the key factors of MMA is respect. This is a line we should and can never cross. That being said, it leaves me no other choice than to release Radmir Gabdullin from his function. We also severely advise that the Russian MMA Union do the same. (The Russian MMA Union is a full member of the World MMA Union.)
“We are working hard on standardizing in all countries of the world, all continents, in terms of Rules, Regulation and Referees committees, including anti-doping.We are a real worldwide organization and therefore we also have to reflect this in all of the WMMAA committees.  Also, Russia will be, of course, represented in these as part of the WMMAA. More information will follow soon.”
Finkelchtein, who as WMMAA president reserves any other actions towards the associate judge, noted that, during the November 4-6WMMAA Congress in Macau, China, a board of judges will be discussed and created.
Schedule of Major 2016 MMA Events
 
Aug.3-8 – Asian MMA Championship in Hwasun, South Korea
Sept. 14-16 – European MMA Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia
Oct. 7-9 – Inaugural Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile
Nov. 18-20 – World MMM Championship in Macau, China
Information
Twitter:  @theWMMAA
mixed martial arts, MMA, WMMAA

Team Maldonado files WMMAA appeal to reassess result of June 17th Emelianenko vs.  Maldonado fight in Russia

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MONTE CARLO, Monaco (July 4, 2016) — The World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA) has received an appeal from Stefano Sartori, manager of Brazilian fighter Fabio Maldonado, to reassess the result of his June 17thfight with Fedor Emelianenko, which headlined Fight Nights Global 50 in Saint Petersburgh, Russia.
Emelianenko was awarded a win by majority decision, which Team Malondado has appealed, claiming a conflict of interest because all of the judges are employed by the Russian MMA Union, of which Emelianenko serves as president.
Team Maldonado believes Maldonando should have won the decision, or the fight declared a draw at the very least, in their opinion, as the Brazilian clearly won the first round, 10-8, Emelianenko came back to take the second round, 10-9, and the third round was a toss-up.
Because Russian MMA Union vice president Radmir Gabdullin was the head judge for the aforementioned bout, Team Maldonando feels that a fair judgement regarding its appeal can be rendered only by independent, international judges reviewing the fight.
Team Maldonando has appealed the decision on grounds that there was an obvious conflict of interest in terms of the Russian MMA Union judges and their close association with Fedor, as well as the quality of decisions they rendered.  Rather than appeal the decision to the Russian MMA Union, which they claimed would place Russian judges under intense pressure, Team Maldonando made the appeal directly to the WMMAA because the Russian MMA Union is a sanctioned member of the worldwide sanctioning body WMMAA.
WMMAA president Vadim Finkelchtein has announced the following sequence of actions:
  • WMMAA Secretary General Alexander Engelhardt has been appointed to handle the appeal procedure
  • A group of objective international judges, under the guidance of experienced referee/judge Marco Broersen (Netherlands), to be appointed to assess the Emelianenko-Maldonado fight based on the tape and render an unbiased verdict regarding the fight and work of the judges
  • Temporarily suspend WMMAA head judge Radmir Gabdullin from his position
  • Discuss judges’ work at the next WMMAA Congress, taking into account the pending verdict of the independent commission
Schedule of Major 2016 MMA Events
 
Aug.3-8 – Asian MMA Championship in Hwasun, South Korea
Sept. 14-16 – European MMA Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia
Oct. 7-9 – Inaugural Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile
Nov. 18-20 – World MMM Championship in Macau, China
Information
Twitter:  @theWMMAA
Instagram: @worldmmaa
amateur mixed martial arts, Amateur MMA, mixed martial arts, MMA, WMMAA

World MMA Association 2016 Asian Championship RESCHEDULED Aug. 17-21 in South Korea

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MONTE CARLO, Monaco (May 8, 2016)- The  World MMA Association (WMMAA) has announced that, due to venue availability issues, its second annual Asian Championship has been rescheduled from May 27-30 to August 17-21 at the same site, the Hwasoon Culture and Sports Center. in the Republic of South Korea.
The Asian MMA Championship will feature the top amateur MMA fighters in six different weight classes.
“We had to postpone our annual Asian Championships but this way we’ll have even more time to prepare for the biggest amateur MMA event of the year on the Asian continent,” WMMAA president Vadim Finkelchtein said.  “The location and venue remain the same, which is great news because the site our South Korean Federation was able to find really suits our championship very well.”
An international judges’ seminar will be held Aug. 17-20, to certify and accredit judges.  Only accredit judges will be allowed to work during the Asian MMA Championships.  Preliminary and semifinal matches will be Aug. 19, followed by the championship final matches.
The official weigh-ins and competition draws will be conducted Aug. 27,
The Asia Division Congress: Battle of the Nomads of the WMMAA Pro Asian Division will be held Aug. 20.
Individual team competition will be held in accordance with the “Official Rules of Mixed Martial Arts Competition, subject to WMMAA approval. Including revisions, additions and clarifications of certain clauses.  Matches will held in accordance with the Olympic system with two third-places in each of the six weight divisions.
Team scoring is awarded by the maximum amount of points scored by individual team members on the following basis:  1st – 10, 2nd – 8, 3rd – 6, 4th – 5, 5th – 4, 6th – 3, 7th – 2, 8th – 1.
All individual first-place winners will be awarded special championship belts and medals, second and third-place finishers will receive a medal and certificate. Teams finishing among the top three in the final standings will be awarded cups and certificates.
In addition to the host, South Korea, other eligible countries to compete in the Asian MMA Championship include Afghanistan, China, Chinese Taipei, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Singapore, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
 
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World MMA Association 2016 Asian Championship May 27-30 in South Korea

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MONTE CARLO, Monaco (April 19, 2016)- The second annual World MMA Association (WMMAA) Asian Championship will be held May 27-30 at Hwasoon Culture and Sports Center in the Republic of South Korea.
The Asian MMA Championship will feature the top amateur MMA fighters in six different weight classes.
“This year’s Asian MMA Championship is a significant milestone for our association,” WMMAA president Vadim Finkelchtein said.  “We strive to educate people from each country in which we hold regional championships. This time will be no different with more people learning the beauty of Mixed Martial Arts.  We’re also organizing a judges and referee seminar within a certification process.  We are looking forward to this event and hope to have as many Asian countries participating as possible.”
An international judges’ seminar will be held May 24-27, to certify and accredit judges.  Only accredit judges will be allowed to work during the Asian MMA Championships.  Preliminary and semifinal matches will be May 28, followed by the championship final matches.
The official weigh-ins and competition draws will be conductedMay 27,
The Asia Division Congress: Battle of the Nomads of the WMMAA Pro Asian Division will be held May 29.
Individual team competition will be held in accordance with the “Official Rules of Mixed Martial Arts Competition, subject to WMMAA approval. Including revisions, additions and clarifications of certain clauses.  Matches will held in accordance with the Olympic system with two third-places in each of the six weight divisions.
Team scoring is awarded by the maximum amount of points scored by individual team members on the following basis:  1st – 10, 2nd – 8, 3rd – 6, 4th – 5, 5th – 4, 6th – 3, 7th – 2, 8th – 1.
All individual first-place winners will be awarded special championship belts and medals, second and third-place finishers will receive a medal and certificate. Teams finishing among the top three in the final standings will be awarded cups and certificates.
In addition to the host, South Korea, other eligible countries to compete in the Asian MMA Championship include Afghanistan, China, Chinese Taipei, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Singapore and Tajikistan
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WMMAA President Vadim Finkelchtein Leading sport into future 

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MONTE CARLO, Monaco (March 14, 2016)- World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA) President Vadim Finkelchtein, who founded the sanctioning organization in 2012, continues to lead WMMAA and the sport into a very bright future.
In four short years, WMMAA has alreadydeveloped into the strongest sanctioning body in the MMA world, hosting some of the sport’s most prestigious championships, as well as creating a highly respected culture in throughout sports worldwide.
Finkelchtein answered some pertinent questions below about WMMAA, its past and future, in addition to addressing the growth of mixed martial arts:
Can you tell us about you and your experience in Martial Arts?
VF: “I practiced judo when I was a kid. Back then there was no MMA whatsoever.”

How did you first enter the world of MMA?
VF:  “In 1995, I was offered an opportunity to sponsor an MMA event. That’s when I learned about and fell in love with no holds barred, or free-fight, as it was called then. In 1997, I organized my own event in Russia. The rest is history.”

When did you first hear of MMA and what was your first impression? Did
you expect this sport to grow as much as it has today?
VF: “When I saw my first MMA event in 1995, I was amazed by its scale and how many people came to watch. People were genuinely interested. It was a whole other level and approach to a sports event. And I had seen a lot so I could compare empirically. I have always believed in MMA and expected it would eventually become the number one sport in the world, although back then no one would acknowledge MMA as a sport. Our
athletes and fight teams had a hard time. They were not even welcome in sambo gyms to train there. It was a long and a hard way to change MMA’s image that was deemed as human cock fighting or closely related to organized crime. Thanks to the fact I have never had any relations to crime, when this sport landed in my hands in late 90’s, it
helped greatly as we were able to turn the tide and after all these years to help governments to officially recognize MMA.”

What is your function and main activities within WMMAA?
VF: “I founded the World MMA Association in 2012 because I felt the time had come.  MMA is the fastest growing sport and it’s time to start developing it at another level, giving it a new but essential dimension. Due to its popularity, thousands of fans of all ages started practicing in Mixed Martial Arts. At that moment, I had accumulated a vast network in multiple countries. I knew countless numbers of activists across the globe, so the start was destined to happen. From the get-go over 20 countries joined the WMMAA family. At this moment there are over 60 countries and counting.”

How would you assess WMMAA’s progress during its three year existence?
VF: “WMMAA is still in its infancy. Yes, we lack experience and financing, and MMA is a new kind of sport in many regions. But I have to say that we’re growing and the last World Championship in Czech Republic proved it. Over 40 national teams flew to Prague with over 200 athletes. The level of competition evolved so much. The organizational level was also high and we are thankful to our Czech MMA Federation for its great work. This World Championship proved there is demand for MMA around the world.”

What are the main goals of WMMAA and what are the main obstacles facing
the association?
VF: “The goals are to encourage as many countries as possible to join the WMMAA
family, to facilitate them in their struggle to get MMA recognized in their respective countries, helping them develop amateur MMA. There are countless obstacles but I firmly believe we’ll prevail.”

Were there any countries that stood out or surprised you?
VF: “China surprised me a lot. They joined WMMAA recently but since then they’ve shown solid results. Also, I enjoyed the performance of Latin American teams. It was their debut but one Colombian kid (Andrey Roa Ruiz Dumar) won a bronze medal and that was great.
Once again, Russia won the majority of the medals due to amateur MMA there developing with extremely rapid strides ever since early 2012. Fedor Emelianenko is the main locomotive and driving force in Russia. The selection process there is just unbelievable. You can’t imagine how many steps one needs to make in order to become the champion of the Russian Federation. The City Championship, Oblast Championship, regional and national championship. Each of these events consists of at least three fights, which means that a Russian champion will probably have had at least won 15 fights under his belt by the time of the European or World Championships. Only truly the best get to the top. Imagine this: around 7,000 athletes participated in the aforementioned events in 2015.”

What are the 2016 mid-term goals for WMMAA?
VF: “The normal routine is to hold the Asian Championship, Pan-American Championship, multiple referee and judge seminars and certifications, then prepare for the European and, consequently, the World Championship that will coincide with the annual Congress.”

Can you describe what 2015 was like for WMMAA?
VF: “I was amazed with the Asian Championship in Tajikistan with thousands and thousands of fans at the stacked football stadium. I enjoyed watching how many people turned their eyes to an amateur MMA event.”

What words of wisdom would you like to share with the members of WMMAA family?
VF: “I’d ask all WMMAA members to adhere to the agreements and decisions we reached collectively. It pertains to the set of rules, judging process, equipment, unified rules, and youth sports development.”
WMMAA keeps expanding, however, there are still multiple countries that are not yet WMMAA members. Why should any local Federation apply for WMMAA membership?
VF: “WMMAA is the strongest MMA organization there is. We plan to continuously hold regional and world championships and keep developing and evolving. Athletes’ ethical upbringing is also our target. We believe this sport can give so much to the world in various ways and we put a lot of effort into its development.  We’ll gladly accept strong and worthy partners into our ranks.”
“We are truly an amateur association, although others may think we are not. The thing is it’s rather hard to verify the real records of MMA athletes. There is no official and ubiquitous database or instance that would provide 100-percentreliable and accurate information pertaining to the amount of fights under someone’s belt. Some amateur fights might be recorded as professional and professional fights as amateur, which was the reason for us canceling the previous rule of pro fight limitation for the time being, in order to develop a new system of fighters’ eligibility evaluation. We are working on that as we speak.”

People keep asking: why should we use SportID and SportData. Can you
explain why it is so essential?

VF: “We are an official and credible sport. Our association ought to be transparent. These databases show the data on athletes, their statistics and numbers. They show the quantitative as well as qualitative growth of mixed martial artists. They facilitate in overseeing the championships registered in SportData, helping to broadcast them. Furthermore, they contain so many functions that it would take me forever to discuss it. Just think of rankings, both individual and national, fighters’ profiles and so on.  I need to remind everyone that, based on the Congress decision, the use of and
registration in these databases are mandatory for all our members.”
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M-1 Challenge 64 Bonus Performances Announce

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MOSCOW (February 29, 2016) – M-1 Global has announced its M-1 Challenge 64bonus performances, highlighted by co-Fight of the Night awards, along with KO of the Night and Submission of the Night.
 
Veteran Russian fighter Alexander Shlemenklo (52-9-0), a three-time Bellator champion, won a close unanimous decision over former 2-division M-1 Challenge division Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (28-3-0), of Russia, in their M-1 Global Grand Prix Middleweight Tournament co-Fight of the Night match (pictured below).
 
Sharing top honors for Fight of the Night (see below) was Pavel Vitruk (13-2-0) vs. Ukrainian Vitaly Branchuk (21-5-0), in which Vitruk won a decision in their M-1 Challenge Bantamweight Semifinals Eliminator match.
 
Russian heavyweight Kurban Ibragimov (4-1-0) won KO of the Night honors with his opening-round stoppage of Ukrainian Dmitriy Mikutsa (5-3-0).
 
Submission of the Night (see below) was awarded to Russian strongman Alexander “Drago” Volkov (25-6-0), who captured the vacant M-1 Challenge heavyweight championship, for his winning third-round triangle choke Denis Smoldarev (11-2-0), of Estonia.
 

 
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M-1 Challenge 64 Official Results & Pictures

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Shlemenko & Volkov victorious

Alexander Shlemenko’s hands is raised in victory after the decision was announced for his M-1 Global Grand Prix Middleweight Tournament semifinals match against Vyacheslav Vasilevsky


Alexander Volkov captured the vacant M-1 Challenge heavyweight title
MOSCOW (February 20, 2016) – Veteran Russian fighters Alexander Shlemenkloand Alexander Volkov were the big winners in M-1 Challenge 64 action last night at Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
 
Shlemenko (52-9-0), a three-time Bellator champion, returned to M-1 Global in grand style, winning a close but unanimous decision over former 2-division M-1 Challenge division Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (28-3-0), of Russia, in their M-1 Global Grand Prix Middleweight Tournament match.  Shlemenko advances to the championship final later this year to face the winner of the other semifinals fight (April 8) at M-1 Challenge 65between reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Ramazan Emeev (13-3-0) and Brazilian Maiquel “Big Rig” Falcao (35-8-0). Emeev was the 2015 M-1 Global Fighter of the Year.
 
M-1 Global’s newly signed Alexander “Drago” Volkov (25-6-0), of Russia, captured the vacant M-1 Challenge heavyweight championship, defeating Estonian strongmanDenis Smoldarev (11-2-0) by way of a third-round submission via a triangle choke.
 
In the M-1 Challenge Bantamweight Semifinals Eliminator matches, Pavel Vitruk (13-2-0) and Ukrainian Vitaly Branchuk (21-5-0) both won unanimous decisions to advance to the championship final to determine the new M-1 Challenge bantamweight champion.  Vitruk got past his previously undefeated Kazakh opponent Sergey Morozov (6-1-1), while Branchuk got the better of Antun “Killer” Racic (18-7-0), of Croatia.
 
Late replacement Vladimir Kathyhin (32-6-1), of Ukraine, won a decision over American middleweight Joe Ray (13-5-0) in the other main card fight.
 
On the preliminary card, Russian middleweight Magomed Mutaev (7-2-0), Russian welterweight Maksin Grabovich (3-2-0) and Ukrainian featherweight Andrey “Iron” Lezhnev (8-5-0) were all unanimous decision winners, respectively, against UkrainianVadim “Archie” Orischak (5-5-0), German Stefan Larisch (8-4-0) and RussianTimur Nagibin.
 
Russian heavyweight Kurban Ibragimov (4-1-0) knocked out Dmitriy Mikutsa (5-3-0), of Ukraine, in the opening round, while Russian middleweight Valery “The Russian Hammer” Myasnikov (9-1-1) locked in a rear naked choke on Ukrainian foeVyacheslav “Bison” Bogomol (8-2-0) to win by second-round submission.
 
Complete results and picture gallery below (all winners listed first):
MAIN CARD
 
MAIN EVENT
M-1 GLOBAL GRAND PRIX MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINALS
Alexander Shlemenko (52-9-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia
WDEC5
Vyacheslav Vaselevsky (27-4-0, M-1: 10-2-0), Russia
(Shlemenko advances to M-1 Global Grand Prix middleweight final)
CO-FEATURE
VACANT M-1 CHALLENGE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Alexander Volkov (25-6-0, M-1: 9-3-0), Russia
WSUB3 (Triangle Choke – 0:32)
Denis Smoldaraev (11-2-0, M-1: 7-2-0), Estonia
(Volkov captures M-1 Challenge heavyweight title)
M-1 CHALLENGE BANTAMWEIGHT SEMIFINALS ELIMINATOR
Pavel Vitruk (13-2-0, M-1: 7-2-0), Russia
WDEC3
Sergey Morozov (6-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0), Kazakhstan
Vitaly Branchuk (21-5-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Antun Racic (18-7-0, M-1: 3-4-0), Croatia
(Vitruk & Branchuk advance to M-1 Challenge bantamweight title fight)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Vladimir Katyhin (32-6-1, M-1: 2-0-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Joe Ray (13-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0, United States
PRELIMINARY CARD
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Kurban Ibragimov (4-1-0, M-1: 3-1-0, Russia
WKO1 (4:33)
Dmitriy Mikutsa (5-3-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Ukraine
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Magomed Mutaev (7-2-0, M-1: 4-0-0), Russia
WDEC3
Vadim Orischak (5-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Russia
Valery Myasnikov (9-1-1, M-1: 1-1-1), Russia
WSUB2 (Rear Naked Choke – 2:37)
Vyacheslav Bogomol (5-2-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Russia
WELTERWEIGHTS
Maksin Grabovich (3-2-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia
WDEC3
Stefan Larisch (8-4-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Germany
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Andrey Lezhnev (8-5-0, M-1: 2-1-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Timur Nagibin (5-2-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Russia
 
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ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL:

Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premier entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With its office in St Petersburg, Russia, the M-1 brand has staged more than 170 events worldwide, including M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the U.S. network, Showtime. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Sergei Kharitonov, Aleksander Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2016 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition, featuring a full calendar of Challenge events, fueled by a talent-rich contention system to rank M-1 Global Champions among the greatest fighters in the sport.
ABOUT M-1GLOBAL.TV:  Enjoy MMA action now in high definition brought to you by M-1Global.tv, offering only the best fights from M-1 Global and other MMA organizations. M-1Global.tv is a great platform developed specifically to bring together the most exhaustive fight video database.  It also provides an easy and intuitive interface, helping everyone to start using the platform in no time while avoiding any spoilers.  Besides watching the past fights on demand at any time convenient to the customer, viewers are able to enjoy the action LIVE, all available to M-1Global.tv users through a low-priced month to month digital subscription. Your world of action. Anytime!
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M-1 Challenge 64 Official Weights & Pictures WATCH LIVE ON M-1GLOBAL.TV

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Photo gallery below
 
MAIN CARD
 M-1 GLOBAL GRAND PRIX MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINALS – 5 X 5
Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko (51-9-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Russia 184 ½ lbs. (83.8 kg)
vs.
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (27-3-0, M-1: 10-1-0), Russia 184 ½ lbs. (83.8 kg)
CO-FEATURE
VACANT M-1 CHALLENGE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP – 5 X 5
Alexander “Drago” Volkov (24-6-0, M-1: 8-3-0), Russia 236 ½ lbs. (107.5 kg)
vs.
Denis Smoldaraev (11-1-0, M-1: 7-1-0), Estonia 269 ½ lbs. (122.4 kg)
M-1 CHALLENGE BANTAMWEIGHT SEMIFINALS ELIMINATOR – 3 X 5
Pavel Vitruk (12-2-0, M-1: 6-2-0), Russia 135 lbs. (61.3 kg)
vs.
Sergey Morozov (6-0-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Kazakhstan 134 lbs. (60.9 kg)
Antun “Killer” Racic (18-6-0, M-1: 3-3-0), Croatia 134 lbs. (61.0 kg)
vs.
Vitaly Branchuk (20-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Ukraine 134 ½ lbs. (61.1 kg)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Joe Ray (13-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0, United States 184 lbs. (83.6 kg)                           
vs.
Vladimir Katyhin (31-6-1, M-1: 1-0-0), Ukraine 183 ½ lbs. (83.4 kg)
PRELIMINARY CARD
HEAVYWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Kurban Ibragimov (3-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0, Russia 230 lbs. (104.5 kg)
vs.
Dmitriy Mikutsa (5-2-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Ukraine 239 ½ lbs. (108.8 kg)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- 3 X 5
Magomed Mutaev (6-2-0, M-1: 3-0-0),Russia 185 lbs. (84.0 kg)
vs.
Vadim “Archie” Orischak (5-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Russia 184 lbs. (83.6 kg)
Valery “The Russian Hammer” Myasnikov (8-1-1, M-1: 0-1-1), Russia 185 lbs. (84.0 kg)
vs.
Vyacheslav “Bison” Bogomol (5-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0) 183 lbs. (83.3 kg)
WELTERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Stefan Larisch (8-3-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Germany 168 ½ lbs. (76.6 kg)
vs.
Maksin Grabovich (2-2-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Russia 168 lbs. (76.3 kg)
FEATHERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Andrey “Iron” Lezhnev (7-5-0, M-1: 1-1-0) 145 lbs. (65.8 kg)
vs.
Timur Nagibin (5-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Russia 145 lbs. (65.8 kg)
WHAT:             M-1 Challenge 64
WHEN:             Friday, February 19, 2016
 
WHERE:           Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia
 
PROMOTER:     M-1 Global
M-1 Challenge 64 will be streamed live from Moscow in high definition on www.M1Global.TV. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register atwww.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Android and Apple smart phones and tablets.
Information:

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ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premier entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With its office in St Petersburg, Russia, the M-1 brand has staged more than 170 events worldwide, including M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the U.S. network, Showtime. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Sergei Kharitonov, Aleksander Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2016 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition, featuring a full calendar of Challenge events, fueled by a talent-rich contention system to rank M-1 Global Champions among the greatest fighters in the sport.
ABOUT M-1GLOBAL.TV:  Enjoy MMA action now in high definition brought to you by M-1Global.tv, offering only the best fights from M-1 Global and other MMA organizations. M-1Global.tv is a great platform developed specifically to bring together the most exhaustive fight video database.  It also provides an easy and intuitive interface, helping everyone to start using the platform in no time while avoiding any spoilers.  Besides watching the past fights on demand at any time convenient to the customer, viewers are able to enjoy the action LIVE, all available to M-1Global.tv users through a low-priced month to month digital subscription. Your world of action. Anytime!
M-1, M-1 Challenge, mixed martial arts, MMA

M-1 Challenge 65 rescheduled from March 4 to April 8 in St. Petersburg, Russia Due to scheduling conflict

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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (February 15, 2016) –  M-1 Global has announced that M-1 Challenge 65 has been rescheduled from March 4 to April 8 at Ice Palace Sports Center in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Ice Hockey World Championships will be held this May in St. Petersburg and Moscow.  Many sports venues in St. Petersburg are closed in March due to renovations, resulting in the switched date for M-1 Challenge 65.
In the M-1 Challenge 65 main event, reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Ramazan Emeev(13-3-0, M-1: 7-1-0) will take on Brazilian challenger Maiquel “Big Rig” Falcao (35-8-0, M-1: 0-0-0) in the M-1 Grand Prix middleweight semifinals match.
The other M-1 Grand Prix middleweight semifinals match is set as three-time Bellator championAlexander “Storm” Shlemenko (51-9-0, M-1: 2-0-0) takes on former M-1 Challenge middleweight and light heavyweight titlist Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (27-3-0, M-1: 10-1-0) at this Friday’s (Feb. 19) M-1 Challenge 64 at Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
The winners of Shlemenko vs. Vasilevsky and Emeev vs. Falcao will advance to the M-1 Grand Prix middleweight championship later this year.
In other M-1 Global news, M-1 Challenge lightweight champion Mansour “Tarzan” Barnaoui‘s (13-2-0, M-1: 2-2-0) title defense versus challenger Artium Damkovsky (20-9-0, M-1: 10-6-0), has been moved from M-1 Challenge 64 to M-1 Challenge 65.
Replacing Barnaoui vs. Damkovsky on M-1 Challenge 64 is a classic striker-wrestler matchup between American Joe Ray (13-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0) and Nodar Kudukhashvili (10-2-0, M-1: 2-1-0), of Georgia.
M-1 Challenge 64 & 65 will be streamed live from Russia in high definition on www.M1Global.TV. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register atwww.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Android and Apple smart phones and tablets.
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