Tag: Guram Gugenishvili

M-1 Challenge Heavyweight Champion Guram Gugenishvili Dies in Car Wreck at 28

Heartbreaking news out of Georgia today, where it is being reported that former M-1 heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili has been killed in a car accident at the far too young age of 28. The announcement was made public on M-1’s Facebook page last night, along with a statement that read, “He was going to fight in Japan at the end of 2014 and come back to M-1 Global in 2015. He was a great athlete and a kind, open-hearted person.”

With a career record of 12-2, Gugenishvili fought almost exclusively under the M-1 banner, with his lone outside appearance being his most recent — a first round TKO over Tony Bonello at Inoki Genome Fight 1 back in April. The win followed a 16-month injury-related absence from the ring.

No immediate details have been available about the collision or Gugenishvili’s injuries, but we will keep you updated as information is made available. After the jump: A video of Guram’s aforementioned win over Bonello.

Heartbreaking news out of Georgia today, where it is being reported that former M-1 heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili has been killed in a car accident at the far too young age of 28. The announcement was made public on M-1′s Facebook page last night, along with a statement that read, “He was going to fight in Japan at the end of 2014 and come back to M-1 Global in 2015. He was a great athlete and a kind, open-hearted person.”

With a career record of 12-2, Gugenishvili fought almost exclusively under the M-1 banner, with his lone outside appearance being his most recent — a first round TKO over Tony Bonello at Inoki Genome Fight 1 back in April. The win followed a 16-month injury-related absence from the ring.

No immediate details have been available about the collision or Gugenishvili’s injuries, but we will keep you updated as information is made available. After the jump: A video of Guram’s aforementioned win over Bonello.

–J. Jones

M-1 Challenge 27 Results: Vinny Magalhaes Retains Belt with Third-Round TKO

Filed under: M-1 Global, NewsIt didn’t come the way most expected, but M-1 Global light-heavyweight champion Vinny Magalhaes successfully defended his championship, scoring a third-round TKO at 3:13 of the third round.

Magalhaes, a jiu-jitsu star who …

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It didn’t come the way most expected, but M-1 Global light-heavyweight champion Vinny Magalhaes successfully defended his championship, scoring a third-round TKO at 3:13 of the third round.

Magalhaes, a jiu-jitsu star who just last month won the gold medal at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission wrestling world championships in his weight class, came into the fight with seven of his eight career victories by way of submission. And though he threatened at several moments of the fight, the end came after he slammed opponent Mikhail Zayats with a head kick, then finished him with ground strikes to force a referee stoppage.

It was the fifth straight win for Magalhaes, who is now 9-5-1.

Zayats had his moments, particularly in the standup, where he nailed Magalhaes with a series of leg kicks throughout the duration of the bout. But Magalhaes came alive in the third to pull out the win in the main event of a show held at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix.

In an interim heavyweight championship fight, Kenny Garner outlasted Maxim Grishin in a fifth-round submission due to strikes. It was a bout that saw both men battle through exhaustion before Grishin could take no more with just 53 seconds left in the five-round affair.

The fight was somewhat marred by some bizarre problems, including a shortened round when the ringside clock operator did not heed the referee’s timeout signal, referee positioning errors on restarts from under the ropes, and Grishin’s near-refusal to get back to his feet near the end of round four.

Amazingly, Grishin nearly came back to win, nearly locking Garner in an armbar before Garner pulled free and blasted his way tot the victory. Garner (8-3) is expected to next face current heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili, who injured his elbow just last week. Gugenishvili is undefeated at 11-0.

The other three main card fights all ended in a flash. In the opener, Daniel Madrid defeated Tom Gallichio via armbar in just 48 seconds. Then, Yasubey Enomoto topped Josh Thorpe with a triangle in 67 seconds, and not to be outdone, Arthur Guseinov finished off Eddie Arizmendi with a heel hook submission in just 50 seconds.

Main Card Results
Vinny Magalhaes def. Mikhail Zayats via TKO (strikes) – Round 3 (1:13)
Kenny Garner def. Maxim Grishin via submission (strikes) – Round 5 (4:07)
Arthur Guseinov def. Eddie Arizmendi via submission (heel hook) – Round 1 (0:50)
Yasubey Enomoto def. Josh Thorpe via submission (triangle) – Round 1 (1:07)
Daniel Madrid def. Tom Gallicchio via submission (armbar) – Round 1 (0:48)

 

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M-1’s Showtime Return on October 14 to Feature Three Title Fights

Filed under: MMA Fighting Exclusive, M-1 Global, NewsM-1’s return to Showtime television is set for October 14, and will include a trio of title fights, the promotion’s global director of operations Evgeni Kogan told MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

The night…

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M-1’s return to Showtime television is set for October 14, and will include a trio of title fights, the promotion’s global director of operations Evgeni Kogan told MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

The night’s main event will feature the return of M-1’s heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili, who will take on Kenny Garner in a rematch of their October 2010 title fight. Gugenishvili had been expected to fight on M-1’s July card but suffered a left wrist injury prior to the bout and withdrew.

The unbeaten Gugenishvili is 11-0 so far in his pro career, with 10 of his wins coming via submission. Garner was a secod-round guillotine choke victim in round two of their previous encounter, making him only the second man to make it out of the first round against him.

Since losing that fight, Garner has won two straight, improving to 7-3.

In a light-heavyweight championship match, reigning king Vinny Magalhaes will face Mikhail Zayats. Magalhaes, an Ultimate Fighter season eight competitor, has won four fights in a row, all by finish. On April 28, the submission specialist won the vacant belt by defeating Viktor Nemkov via mounted gogoplata.

Magalhaes is 8-5 with 1 no contest overall. Zayats is 14-5 after winning four straight bouts, all by stoppage.

In the second co-main event, lightweight champ Jose Figueroa will attempt to defend his belt against Daniel Weichel.

Figueroa (10-4) seized the championship in March with a second-round TKO of Artiom Damkovsky, marking his third straight win. Weichel, meanwhile, has won nine of his last 10 bouts, including four in a row. His last win came at M-1’s July event, when he earned a unanimous decision over Beau Baker.

Kogan told MMA Fighting that a venue for the event is still being worked and “is about to be locked in.”

M-1 Challenge 27 will be the promotion’s third card aired on Showtime. It will air at 11 pm. Its first two events drew 189,000 and 161,000 viewers, respectively, to the premium cable network.

 

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