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
About the author
