M-1 Challenge 48 Official Discussion

There you have it, the preliminary version of the next M-1 Challenge card has been released. The event in itself is kind of a fill-in, since the original M-1 Challenge 48 has been pushed back and finally renamed to M-1 Challenge 49 while this event was put in between and numbered 48.

The card itself, being a fill-in, is not as strong as usual. It has some fighters making their pro debuts and being in Kazakhstan, it also features some less (little) known Kazakhstan/Tajikistan/Georgian etc. fighters instead of the usual M-1 stars (a Battle of Nomads indeed). It also features Max Coga, who's trying to rebound after his last 15 seconds KO at the hands of the Swedish star Niklas Backstrom, which he's planning to accomplish by going up a weight class and taking on the undefeated Ukrainian Maxim Divnich.

The main event itself is "the fight that should have been". Dennis Smoldarev was supposed to meat Kostia Gluhov in the semi-finals of the M-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix in August last year, but due to an injury he sustained in training, the fight was scrapped. Gluhov instead got a bye to the finals, where he faced (and lost to) the tournament alternate and rising Polish star Marcin Tybura (who has then become the #1 contender for the M-1 HW Title before the champion got injured too). Since then Smoldarev has made his come back by defeating the Croatian HW star Ante Delija, while Gluhov, after losing to Tybura, has suffered a DQ "loss" to Mikhail Gazaev where after a very frustrating fight in which Gazaev kept crawling around on his knees with one hand constantly touching the ground to avoid striking exchanges he finally had enough in the 3rd round and KO'd Gazaev with a kick to the head when the former was making another of his monkey impressions. After that he decisively beat his former rival (and also former M-1 HW champion) Kenny Garner in a rematch and then made short work of Valentijn Overeem in another rematch to set up this fight.

In another "was supposed to be" battle the Ukrainian striker Pavel Vitruk faces his would-be opponent from March. In one of many shake-ups on the M-1 Challenge 46 card Vitruk and Spaniard Agoney Romero were finally scheduled to face each other... that is until (according to M-1) Romero lost his passport somewhere on the road between Spain and Germany and was forcibly deported back home on the day he was supposed to arrive in Saint Petersburg. Vitruk instead faced his 3rd opponent, the unknown Brazilian import Clayton Santos, whom he defeated without much trouble. Will this time Romero manage to finish his journey all the way to Kazakhstan or will he again be stopped somewhere along the way? Only time will tell.

The card will also be proceeded by six of the Asian WMMAA finals (one in each weight class), piggybacking on the M-1 card similar to the previous ones. So be prepared for it to start earlier than announced (the timer is set comfortably back this time to avoid any mishaps) and if you tune in to the stream early, don't be surprised to see some unfamiliar guys fighting in a mostly empty arena.

* Edited at 05.05.2014, 11:19 PM ET *

Battle of the Nomads? 

There better be plenty of explosive athleticism. 

they should have put that Sharkmal dude that KOed Monson on this

* Edited at 05.05.2014, 10:43 PM ET *

That would make sense, but I don't know if they even have a HW currently available. I think half is injured and the other half is either busy or have just fought. Of course they probably could've always just grabbed another Kazakh heavy to match with him.

btw I don't know if there was a precedent on an M-1 Challenge card before, but out of 16 officially announced fighters only 2 are actually Russian.

* Edited at 05.05.2014, 10:47 PM ET *

M-1 definitely showcases some Eastern European talent and I hope some make it to either the UFC  or Bellator.

gluhov vs smoldarev cancelled due to illness of gluhov.


http://mixfight.ru/news/2014/5/7/Kostya_Gluhov_ne_smozhet_bitysya_na_turnire_M_1_Challenge_48/

In for the sick Gluhov steps the Ukrainian Heavyweight, Evgeni Guryanov (6-1 MMA, 1-0 M-1, 2-1 ProFC).

Nothing makes working on Saturdays better than some good early morning Russian MMA!!

I'm ready for some crazy Russian fight action!!!

Random Riverdance

How fast could Fedor kill all those Asian dudes standing around him?

Is the cage around the bottom rope a new thing or have i just never noticed it?

Holy **** finally the pro fights are starting .

Limp Bizkit is still the **** in Russia i guess

Russia's stuck in 2002. I can dig it. 

i liked Bizkit when i was younger Chocolate starfish was a sick album . so im liking there taste in music .

OMFG !!! that was  awesome that is going in my KOTY ranking . Body kick ko Beautiful

Bas Rutten is smiling somewhere

gif?

here is the Gif of the Kick finish @ 2 Nyce

http://gfycat.com/AdmiredFirstGrayling

* Edited at 05.24.2014, 11:37 AM ET *