M-1 Global

M-1 Global
Type	Private
Industry	Mixed martial arts promotion
Founded	1997
Founder	Vadim Finkelchtein
Headquarters	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Website	http://www.m-1global.com

M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1)[1] is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year.

It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with other organizations) entitled M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough on August 28, 2009 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.[2]

M-1, in 2009, signed a contract to co-promote with Explosion Entertainment.[3]

UFC partnership

On July 18, 2018, it was announced that the UFC has agreed in a partnership with Russian Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) where M-1 Global serves as the farm league for the UFC to scout Russian fighters for the UFC and involves in preparation and organizes new shows in Russia. Part of the deal also allows M-1 champions to have the opportunity to sign with the UFC.[4][5][6]

M-1 Challenge

M-1 Challenge is a competition organized with a series of events held in many places around the world. The events are broadcast in over 100 countries, mainly Russia, Europe and the FSU countries.[7]

M-1 Selection

The M-1 Selection is a MMA competition where the next generation of fighters are given the opportunity to showcase their skills on the world stage with fighters being eliminated after only one loss; victory will advance the winning fighters throughout the tournament and earn them a trip to the championship event where they will compete for a “M-1 Selection” title.[8]

List of Recent and Upcoming M-1 Global events

No.	Event	Date	Venue	Location
33	M-1 Challenge 98 - Frolov vs. Silva	November 2, 2018	Traktor Ice Arena	Chelyabinsk, Russia
32	M-1 Challenge 97 - Bogatov vs. Pereira	September 28, 2018	Basket-Hall Arena	Kazan, Russia
31	M-1 Challenge 96 - Mikutsa vs. Ibragimov	August 25, 2018	M-1 Arena	Saint Petersburg, Russia
30	M-1 Challenge 95 - Battle in the Mountains 7	July 21, 2018	The Mountain	Nazran, Russia
29	M-1 Challenge 94 - Damkovsky vs. Ismagulov	June 15, 2018	Sports Complex "Orenburg"	Orenburg, Russia
28	M-1 Challenge 93 - Shlemenko vs. Silva	June 1, 2018	Traktor Ice Arena	Chelyabinsk, Russia
27	M-1 Challenge 92 - Kharitonov vs. Vyazigin	May 24, 2018	M-1 Arena	Saint Petersburg, Russia
26	M-1 Challenge 91 - Swain vs. Nuertiebieke	May 12, 2018	Nanshan Culture & Sports Center	Shenzhen, China
25	M-1 Challenge 90 - Kunchenko vs. Butenko	March 30, 2018	M-1 Arena	Saint Petersburg, Russia
24	M-1 Challenge 89 - Buchinger vs. Krasnikov	March 10, 2018	M-1 Arena	Saint Petersburg, Russia
23	M-1 Challenge 88 - Ismagulov vs. Tutarauli	February 22, 2018	Olimpiyskiy	Moscow, Russia
22	M-1 Challenge 87 - Silander vs. Ashimov	February 9, 2018	M1 Arena	Saint Petersburg, Russia
21	Road to M-1: Battle in Nazran 9	December 16, 2017	Sports Palace "Magas"	Nazran, Russia
20	M-1 Challenge 86 - Buchinger vs. Dalgiev	November 24, 2017	Sports Palace "Magas"	Nazran, Russia
19	M-1 Challenge 85: Ismagulov vs. Matias	November 10, 2017	Olimpiyskiy	Moscow, Russia
18	M-1 Challenge 84 - Kunchenko vs. Romanov	October 27, 2017	Ice Palace	Saint Petersburg, Russia
17	M-1 Challenge 83 - Ragozin vs. Halsey	September 23, 2017	Basket-Hall Kazan	Kazan, Russia
16	Road to China 2	September 7, 2017	Grand Restaurant Qin	Moscow, Russia
15	Road to M-1: Battle in Nazran 8	August 27, 2017	Sports Palace "Magas"	Nazran, Russia
14	M-1 Challenge 82 - Vanttinen vs. Zayats	August 5, 2017	Hartwall Arena	Helsinki, Finland
13	M-1 Challenge 81 - Battle in the Mountains 6	July 22, 2017	The Mountain	Nazran, Russia
12	M-1 Challenge 80 - Kharitonov vs. Sokoudjou	June 15, 2017	Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center	Harbin, China
11	Road to M-1: St. Petersburg 3	June 8, 2017	A2 Green Concert Hall	Saint Petersburg, Russia
10	M-1 Challenge 79 - Shlemenko vs. Halsey 2	June 1, 2017	Yubileyny Sports Palace	Saint Petersburg, Russia
9	M-1 Challenge 78 - Divnich vs. Ismagulov	May 26, 2017	Orenburzhye Sport Arena	Orenburg, Russia
8	Road to M-1: Battle in Nazran 7	May 20, 2017	Sports Palace "Magas"	Nazran, Russia
7	M-1 Challenge 77 - Nemkov vs. Markes	May 19, 2017	Sochi sport palace	Sochi, Russia
6	Road to M-1: St. Petersburg 2	April 27, 2017	A2 Green Concert Hall	Saint Petersburg, Russia
5	M-1 Challenge 76 - Nevzorov vs. Evloev	April 22, 2017	Sports Palace "Magas"	Nazran, Russia
4	Road to M-1: Battle in Nazran 6	March 11, 2017	Sports Palace "Magas"	Nazran, Russia
3	M-1 Challenge 75 - Shlemenko vs. Bradley	March 3, 2017	Olimpiyskiy	Moscow, Russia
2	M-1 Challenge 74 - Yusupov vs. Puetz	February 18, 2017	Ice Palace	Saint Petersburg, Russia
1	Road to M-1: St. Petersburg 1	February 9, 2017	A2 Green Concert Hall	Saint Petersburg, Russia

Current M-1 Global champions

Division	Champion	Since	Defenses
Heavyweight	Vacant		0
Light Heavyweight	Vacant		0
Middleweight	Bruno Silva	November 2, 2018	0
Welterweight	Shavkat Rakhmonov	March 30, 2019	1
Lightweight	Roman Bogatov	September 28, 2018	2
Featherweight	Vacant		0
Bantamweight	Sergey Morozov	June 28, 2019	1
Flyweight	Aleksander Doskalchuk	May 24, 2018	2

Current M-1 USA National champions

Division	Champion	Since	Defenses
Welterweight	Dakota Cochrane	April 4, 2019	0

M-1 Global Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: 120 kg (264.6 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Vacant	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alexander Volkov vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
5	Alexander Volkov def. Denis Smoldarev	M-1 Challenge 64 Moscow, Russia	February 19, 2016	1. def. Attila Vegh at M-1 Challenge 68 on July 16, 2016 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Marcin Tybura vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
4	Marcin Tybura	M-1 Challenge 50 Saint Petersburg, Russia	August 15, 2014	1. def. Denis Smoldarev at M-1 Challenge 53 on November 25, 2014 in Beijing, China 2. def. Ante Delija at M-1 Challenge 61 on September 20, 2015 in Nazran, Russia
3	Damian Grabowski	M-1 Challenge 44 Tula, Russia	November 30, 2013	N/A
2	Kenny Garner def. Guram Gugenishvili	M-1: Fedor vs. Rizzo Saint Petersburg, Russia	June 21, 2012	1. def. Guram Gugenishvili at M-1 Challenge 36 on December 8, 2012 in Moscow, Russia
Interim	Kenny Garner def. Maxim Grishin	M-1 Challenge 27 Phoenix, Arizona	October 14, 2011	1. def. Magomed Malikov at M-1 Challenge 32 on May 16, 2012 in Moscow, Russia
1	Guram Gugenishvili def. Kenny Garner	M-1 Challenge 21 Moscow, Russia	October 28, 2010	1. def. Maxim Grishin at M-1 Challenge 23 on March 5, 2011 in Saint Petersburg, Russia

M-1 Global Light Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: 93 kg (205.0 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Vacant	N/A	N/A	N/A
Khadis Ibragimov vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
8	Khadis Ibragimov def. Dimitriy Mikutsa	M-1 Challenge 96 Saint Petersburg, Russia	August 25, 2018	1. def. Rafał Kijańczuk at M-1 Challenge 101 on March 30, 2019 in Almaty, Kazakhstan
Rashid Yusupov vacated the title when he signed for PFL.
7	Rashid Yusupov	M-1 Challenge 66 Orenburg, Russia	May 27, 2016	1. def. Stephan Puetz at M-1 Challenge 74 on February 18, 2017 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
6	Viktor Nemkov	M-1 Challenge 63 Saint Petersburg, Russia	December 4, 2015	N/A
5	Stephan Puetz	M-1 Challenge 46 Saint Petersburg, Russia	March 14, 2014	1. def. Luis Fernando Miranda at M-1 Challenge 50 on August 15, 2014 in Saint Petersburg, Russia 2. def. Valery Myasnikov at M-1 Challenge 54 on December 17, 2014 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
4	Viktor Nemkov def. Vasily Babich	M-1 Challenge 43 Surgut, Russia	November 16, 2013	N/A
Sergey Kornev vacated the title.
3	Sergey Kornev def. Marcin Zontek	M-1 Challenge 34 Moscow, Russia	September 30, 2012	N/A
Vinny Magalhães vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
2	Vinny Magalhães def. Viktor Nemkov	M-1 Challenge 25 Saint Petersburg, Russia	April 28, 2011	1. def. Mikhail Zayats at M-1 Challenge 27 on October 14, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vacated the title when he moved down to middleweight.
1	Vyacheslav Vasilevsky def. Tomasz Narkun	M-1 Challenge 22 Moscow, Russia	December 10, 2010	N/A

M-1 Global Middleweight Championship

Weight limit: 84 kg (185.2 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Bruno Silva	M-1 Challenge 98 Chelyabinsk, Russia	November 2, 2018
6	Artem Frolov def. Caio Magalhaes	M-1 Challenge 84 Saint Petersburg, Russia	October 27, 2017	1. def. Joe Riggs at M-1 Challenge 93 on June 1, 2018 in Chelyabinsk, Russia
Ramazan Emeev vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
5	Ramazan Emeev	M-1 Challenge 56 Moscow, Russia	April 10, 2015	1. def. Luigi Fioravanti at M-1 Challenge 63 on December 4, 2015 in St. Petersburg, Russia 2. def. Anatoly Tokov at M-1 Challenge 73 on December 9, 2016 in Nazran, Russia
4	Vyacheslav Vasilevsky	M-1 Challenge 51 Saint Petersburg, Russia	September 7, 2014	N/A
3	Ramazan Emeev def. Mario Miranda	M-1 Challenge 35 Saint Petersburg, Russia	November 15, 2012	1. def. Mario Miranda at M-1 Challenge 38 on April 9, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia
Magomed Sultanakhmedov vacated the title due to health issue.
2	Magomed Sultanakhmedov def. Tyson Jeffries	M-1 Challenge 24 Norfolk, Virginia	March 25, 2011	N/A
Rafał Moks vacated the title when he moved down to welterweight.
1	Rafał Moks def. Magomed Sultanakhmedov	M-1 Challenge 22 Moscow, Russia	December 10, 2010	N/A

M-1 Global Welterweight Championship

Weight limit: 77 kg (169.8 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Daniil Prikaza	M-1 Challenge 101 Almaty, Kazakhstan	March 30, 2019	1. def. Tiago Varejão at M-1 Challenge 102 on June 28, 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Alexey Kunchenko vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
5	Alexey Kunchenko	M-1 Challenge 65 Saint Petersburg, Russia	April 8, 2016	1. def. Murad Abdulaev at M-1 Challenge 72 on November 18, 2016 in Moscow, Russia 2. def. Maksim Grabovich at M-1 Challenge 75 on March 3, 2017 in Moscow, Russia 3. def. Sergey Romanov at M-1 Challenge 84 on October 27, 2017 in Saint Petersburg, Russia 4. def. Alexander Butenko at M-1 Challenge 90 on March 30, 2018 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
4	Murad Abdulaev def. Marcelo Brito	M-1 Challenge 58 Ingushetia, Russia	June 6, 2015	N/A
Rashid Magomedov vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
3	Rashid Magomedov	M-1 Challenge 31 Saint Petersburg, Russia	March 16, 2012	1. def. Alexander Yakovlev at M-1 Challenge 35 on November 15, 2012 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
2	Yasubey Enomoto	M-1 Challenge 30 Costa Mesa, California	December 9, 2011	N/A
1	Shamil Zavurov def. Abner Lloveras	M-1 Challenge 22 Moscow, Russia	December 10, 2010	1. def. Yasubey Enomoto at M-1 Challenge 25 on April 28, 2011 in Saint Petersburg, Russia

M-1 Global Lightweight Championship

Weight limit: 70 kg (154.3 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Roman Bogatov def. Rubenilton Pereira	M-1 Challenge 97 Kazan, Russia	September 28, 2018	1. def. Michel Silva at M-1 Challenge/ WKG on January 26, 2019 in Harbin, China 2. def. Mickaël Lebout at M-1 Challenge 104 on August 30, 2019 in Orenburg, Russia
Damir Ismagulov vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
9	Damir Ismagulov def. Maxim Divnich	M-1 Challenge 78 Orenburg, Russia	May 26, 2017	1. def. Raul Tutarauli at M-1 Challenge 88 on February 22, 2018 in Moscow, Russia 2. def. Artiom Damkovsky at M-1 Challenge 94 on June 15, 2018 in Orenburg, Russia
Abukar Yandiev vacated the title.
8	Abukar Yandiev	M-1 Challenge 74 Saint Petersburg, Russia	February 18, 2017	N/A
7	Alexander Butenko def. Artiom Damkovsky	M-1 Challenge 67 Baku, Azerbaijan	June 4, 2016	N/A
Mansour Barnaoui vacated the title when he signed for KSW.
6	Mansour Barnaoui	M-1 Challenge 57 Orenburg, Russia	May 2, 2015	N/A
5	Maxim Divnich def. Dzhambulat Kurbanov	M-1 Challenge 54 Saint Petersburg, Russia	December 17, 2014	N/A
Musa Khamanaev vacated the title.
4	Musa Khamanaev	M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Pedro Rizzo Saint Petersburg, Russia	June 21, 2012	1. def. Niko Puhakka at M-1 Challenge 37 on February 27, 2013 in Orenburg, Russia
3	Daniel Weichel	M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson Moscow, Russia	November 20, 2011	N/A
2	Jose Figueroa	M-1 Challenge 24 Norfolk, Virginia	March 25, 2011	N/A
1	Artiom Damkovsky def. Mairbek Taisumov	M-1 Challenge 21 Saint Petersburg, Russia	October 28, 2010	N/A

M-1 Global Featherweight Championship

Weight limit: 65 kg (143.3 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Vacant	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nate Landwehr vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
4	Nate Landwehr	M-1 Challenge 95 Nazran, Russia	July 21, 2018	1. def. Andrey Lezhnev at M-1 Challenge 100 on December 15, 2018 in Atyrau, Kazakhstan 2. def. Viktor Kolesnik at M-1 Challenge 102 on June 28, 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
3	Khamzat Dalgiev	M-1 Challenge 86 Nazran, Russia	November 24, 2017	N/A
2	Ivan Buchinger def. Tural Ragimov	M-1 Challenge 52 Nazran, Russia	October 17, 2014	1. def. Mansour Barnaoui at M-1 Challenge 62 on October 10, 2015 in Sochi, Russia 2. def. Timur Nagibin at M-1 Challenge 80 on June 15, 2017 in Harbin, China
Marat Gafurov vacated the title when he signed for ONE FC.
1	Marat Gafurov def. Vugar Bahshiev	M-1 Challenge 35 Saint Petersburg, Russia	November 15, 2012	1. def. Yuri Ivlev at M-1 Challenge 41 on August 21, 2013 in Saint Petersburg, Russia 2. def. Lee Morrison at M-1 Challenge 47 on April 4, 2014 in Orenburg, Russia

M-1 Global Bantamweight Championship

Weight limit: 61 kg (134.5 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Sergey Morozov def. Aleksandr Osetrov	M-1 Challenge 102 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan	June 28, 2019	1. def. Josh Rettinghouse at M-1 Challenge 105 on October 19, 2019 in Moscow, Russia
Movsar Evloev vacated the title when he signed for UFC.
2	Movsar Evloev def. Pavel Vitruk	M-1 Challenge 81 Nazran, Russia	July 22, 2017	1. def. Sergey Morozov at M-1 Challenge 88 on February 22, 2018 in Moscow, Russia 2. def. Rafael Dias at M-1 Challenge 95 on July 21, 2018 in Nazran, Russia
Title Unification
Interim	Movsar Evloev def. Alexei Nevzorov	M-1 Challenge 76 Nalchik, Russia	April 22, 2017	N/A
1	Pavel Vitruk def. Vitali Branchuk	M-1 Challenge 71 Saint Petersburg, Russia	October 21, 2016	N/A

M-1 Global Flyweight Championship

Weight limit: 57 kg (125.7 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current Interim	Asu Almabaev	M-1 Challenge 105 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan	October 19, 2019	N/A
Interim	Chris Kelades def. Alexander Pletenko	M-1 Challenge 103 Shenzhen, China	August 3, 2019	N/A
Current	Aleksander Doskalchuk def. Arman Ashimov	M-1 Challenge 92 St. Petersburg, Russia	May 24, 2018	2. def. Mikael Silander at M-1 Challenge 99 on November 17, 2018 in Nazran, Russia
Title Unification
Interim	Arman Ashimov def. Mikael Silander	M-1 Challenge 87 St. Petersburg, Russia	February 9, 2018	N/A
1	Aleksander Doskalchuk def. Vadim Malygin	M-1 Challenge 83 Kazan, Russia	September 23, 2017	N/A

M-1 USA National Welterweight Championship