M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB 12 – OFFICIAL RESULTS
M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Stephan “T-800” Puetz (12-1-0, 5 KO/TKO, 4 SUB) retained his title and undefeated Russian Maxim Divnich (10-0-0, 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB) captured the vacant M-1 Challenge lightweight championship in tonight’s main event and co-feature, respectively, on the M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB 12 event, co-promoted byM-1 Global and ACB, at Palais des Sports Ice in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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 (ACB) burst on the Russian MMA scene earlier this year, highlighted by its Grand Prix that featured more than 100 fighters.
Puetz, fighting out of Munich, Germany, stopped previously unbeaten Russian challenger Valery “The Russian Hammer” Myasnikov (8-1-0, 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB) to successfully defend his crown for the second time since defeating Viktor Nemkov by five-round decision for the vacant title this past March 14 at M-1 Challenge 46. Puetz’ other title defense victory was last August 15 at M-1 Challenge 50, in which he Brazilian Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda tapped out due to a rear naked choke.
New M-1 Challenge lgihtweight champion Maxim Divnich
Divnich remained undefeated by beating previously unbeaten Djhambulat Kurbanov (6-1-1, 0 KO/TKO. 3 SUB), of Russia, with a third-round technical knockout by punches.
In a welterweight showdown, Russian veteran Beslan Isaev (31-7-0, 15 KO/TKO, 12 SUB) won his seventh consecutive fight, knocking out American welterweight Cody “AK Kid” McKenzie (15-56-0, 1 KO/TKO, 13 SUB) with a knee in the opening round.
Rising Russian star Anatoly Tokov (19-1-0, 10 KO/TKO, 4 SUB) punched out Enoc Solves Torres (15-8-0), of Spain, in the third round of their middleweight fight, extending his three-year win streak to 11.
American middleweight Luigi “The Italian Tank” Fioravanti (25-12-0, 9 KO/TKO, 5 SUB) blasted out Ruslan Khaskhanov (16-9-0, 3 KO/TKO, 11 SUB) midway through the first round with a series of punches.
In preliminary bouts, Russian light heavyweight Artur Astakhov (10-2-0, 6 KO/TKO, 4 SUB) used an arm bar to force Evgeniy Guryanov (8-5-0, 4 KO/TKO. 3 SUB), of Ukraine, into submission in the third round, American lightweight Daniel “Agent Orange” Swain (12-4-1, 4 KO/TKO, 5 SUB) and Russian Zalimbeg Omarov (2-1-1, 2 SUB) fought to a three-round majority draw, and Alexei Kunchenko (8-0-0, 5 KO/TKO, 2 SUB) remained undefeated with a first-round knockout by punches over fellow Russian welterweight Grigoriy “Crusader” Kichigin (5-3-0, 1 KO/TKO. 3 SUB).
Also fighting on the undercard, Russian lightweight Zaur Kasumov (4-1-0, 1 KO/TKO, 3 SUB) defeated pro debuting Kazakh Arkhat Mynbaev (0-1-0) by way of first-round submission (rear naked choke), Russian lightweight Muslim Makhmudov (4-3-0, 0 KO/TKO, 3 SUB) won a two-round decision over his Ukrainian opponent Evgeniy Boldyrev (0-1-0), and Russian bantamweight Rasul Albaskhanov (2-1-0, 2 SUB) used a rear naked choke to force Ondrej Skalnik (6-4-0, 2 KO/TKO, 1 SUB) to submit in the opening round.
MAIN CARD
MAIN EVENT – LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Stephen Puetz (12-1-0), Germany WTKO2 (3:13 – Punches) Valery Myasnikov (8-1-0), Russia
(Puetz M-1 Challenge light heavyweight title)
CO-FEATURE — LIGHTWEIGHTS
Maxim Divnich (10-0-0), Russia WTKO3 (1:20 – Punches) Djhambulat Kurbanov (6-0-1), Russia
(Divnich won vacant M-1 Challenge lightweight title)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Anatoly Tokov (19-1-0), Russia WTKO3 (0:54 – Punches) Enoc Solves Torres (15-8-0), Spain
Luigi Fioravanti (25-12-0), United States WTKO1 (3:06 – Punches) Ruslan Khaskhanov (16-9-0), Russia
WELTERWEIGHTS
Beslan Isaev (31-7-0), Russia WKO1 (2:20 – Knee) Cody McKenzie (15-6-0), United States
PRELIMINARY CARD
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Artur Astakhov (10-2-0), Russia WSUB1 (3:30 – Arm Bar) Evgeniy Gurynov (8-5-0), Ukraine
Muslim Makhmudov (4-3-0), Russia WDEC2 Evgeniy Boldyrev (0-1-0), Russia
WELTERWEIGHTS
Alexei Kunchenko (8-0-0), Russia WKO1 – 2:33 – Punches) Grigoriy Kichigin (5-3-0), Russia
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Zalimbeg Omarov (2-1-0), Russia MDraw3 Daniel Swain (12-4-1), United States
Yusup Raisov (4-0-0), Russia WSUB1 (1:48 – Rear Naked Choke) Mikhail Kuznetsov (2-1-0), Russia
Zaur Kasumov (4-1-0), Russia WSUB1 (1:54 – Rear Naked Choke) Arkhat Mynbaev (0-1-0), Kazakhstan
BANTAMWEIGHTS
Rasul Albaskhanov (2-1-0), Russia WSUB1 (0:23 – Rear Naked Choke) Ondrej Skalnik (6-4-0), Czech Republic
