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M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB 12 Announced Divnich vs. Kurbanov Battle for Vacant M-1 Challenge Lightweight Title on Dec 17th

MMA headerM-1 Global and ACB have announced a joint venture to co-promote M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB 12 December 17 at Palais des Sports Ice in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Two unbeaten fighters, Ukrainian Maxim Divnich (9-0-0, 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB) and Russian Djambulat Kurbanov (6-0-1, 0 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), will fight for the vacant M-1 Challenge lightweight title

M-1 Global, which grew out of the League MMA M-1, traces its history back to 1997. It has promoted 180 events including nearly 10,000 fights. Absolute Championship Berkut (ABC) burst on the Russian MMA scene earlier this year, highlighted by its Grand Prix that featured more than 100 fighters.

“Executives from both companies (including Mairbeck Hasiev and Bekhan Hasiev from ACB) are confident that this joint venture will be successful,” M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelchtein said, “giving MMA fans in Russia a number of interesting fights as well as a very entertaining show. We plan on having 12 competitive fights, featuring the strongest fighters from Russian clubs like Berkut, Alexander Nevsky, Fightspirit, Sambo-Peter, Martial Arts Club No. 1, and Alexander Nevsky OEMK, in addition to having top fighters from several foreign countries.”

Divnich (Alexander Nevsky) is one of the most exciting and promising fighters in Russia. He made his M-1 Challenge debut last year. He has twice been awarded KO of the Night as well as Fight of the Night once. His most impressive performance to date was this past May at M-1 Challenge 48: Battle of Nomads, in which he knocked previously unbeaten Max Coga (7-0-0) in the first-round with a devastating kick that earned him KO of the Night honors.

Kurbanov (Burkut) has had four M-1 fights, winning three with a draw. He is known for his ground attack having forced three of his opponents into submitting. Kurbanov has fully recovered from an eye injury that forced him to withdraw from his scheduled fights against Alexander Butenko on the eve of M-1 Challenge 51: Fightspirit this past September 7.

Additional fights will soon be announced. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB will be streamed in high definition on www.M1Global.TV, live from Russia. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Andriod and Apple smart phones and tablets.

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