M-1 Challenge 55 Results and GIFs: Denis Smoldarev and Kenny Garner earn submission victories

M-1 Global's first event of 2015 took place on Saturday afternoon in Tbilisi, Georgia. The event was one produced as a tribute to the…

By: Karim Zidan | 9 years ago
M-1 Challenge 55 Results and GIFs: Denis Smoldarev and Kenny Garner earn submission victories
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

M-1 Global’s first event of 2015 took place on Saturday afternoon in Tbilisi, Georgia. The event was one produced as a tribute to the promotion’s fallen former heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili, and featured a wide array of submissions throughout the evening.

The main event of the evening saw former heavyweight title challenger Denis Smoldarev finish Maro Perak in just over three minutes of fight time with an slick keylock submission. The Estonian moves to 10-1 in his career, and 7-1 under the M-1 banner.

The co-main event saw former heavyweight champion Kenny Garner pick up his first M-1 victory since his last win over Guram Gugenishvili back in 2012. Following a five-fight losing streak with the promotion, Garner submitted Aslambek Musaev via arm-triangle in the second round.

Other notable victories on the card include Max Coga, who beat BloodyElbow scouted prospect Pavel Vitruk via third round rear-naked choke, and Nodar Kudukhashvill, who upset UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti on the main card.

Results:

Main card
Denis Smoldarev def. Maro Perak via Submission (Kimura, Round 1, 3:05)
Kenny Garner def. Aslambek Musaev via Submission (Round 2, 2:50)
Nodar Kudukhashvili def. Luigi Fioravanti via unanimous decision
Max Coga def. Pavel Vitruk via Submission (RNC, Round 3, 2:36)
Artem Damkovsky def. Heydar Mamedaliev via unanimous decision
Arsen Abdulkerimov def. Levan Razmadze via Submission (Armbar, Round 1, 3:58)

Preliminary card
Enoc Solves Torres def. Ibragim Tibilov via Submission (RNC, Round 3, 1:35)
Batraz Agnaev def. Lukasz Borowski via Submission (RNC, Round 1, 2:09)
Artem Frolov def. Artur Odilbekov via Submission (Guillotine Choke, Round 1, 1:37)
Raul Tutarauli def. Artur Aliev via Submission (RNC, Round 3, 1:45)

GIFs courtesy of @GrabakaHitman

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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