M-1 Challenge 71: Nemkov vs Vegh - October 21 (OFFICIAL DISCUSSION)

M-1 Challenge 71
October 21, 2016
Ice Palace of Sports 
St. Petersburg, Russia

Main Card:
Viktor Nemkov (23-6)          vs.                (29-7) Attila Vegh
Main Event | Light Heavyweight | 205 lbs (93 Kg)
Pavel Vitruk  (13-2)             vs.           (23-5) Vitali Branchuk
Co-Main Event |  Title Fight | Bantamweight | 135 lbs (61 Kg) 
Sergey Romanov (9-1)         vs.           (37-11) Carlos Pereira
Main Card | Catchweight | 176 lbs (80 Kg) 
Alexander Butenko (41-11)    vs.      (16-2) Rubenilton Pereira
Main Card | Catchweight | 161 lbs (73 Kg)
Stephan Puetz (14-2)            vs. (10-4) Marcus Vinicius Lopes
Main Card | Light Heavyweight | 205 lbs (93 Kg)

Viktor Nemkov vs Attila Vegh fight is set , M-1 and Bellator ex-champions will fight each other in the main card of M-1 Challenge 71

Viktor Nemkov (23-6) is a former M-1 Global Lightheavyweight champion. He is a well-rounded fighter from the famous Alexander Nevsky team of Stary Oskol city. Nenkov uses to train together with legendary Fedor Emelianenko. He lost his last fight to Rashid Yusupov and now it eager to come back on winning streak.

Attila Vegh (29-7-2) is a former Bellator Lightheavyweight chamopion and Bellator LHW Gran-Prix Winner. He tried himself in a heavyweight division, but lost to the reigning M-1 Champion Alexander Volkov. Now Attila comes back to lightheavy where he's going to achieve more spectacular victories.

M-1 first ever bantamweight title fight Pavel Vitruk vs Vitali Branchuk is set for M-1 Challenge 71, October 21

Pavel Vitruk (13-2) (on the photo above) has always been a very talented MMA fighter. He was leading an impressive 12-fights winning streat before suffering two straight defeats from Max Coga and Lee Morrison. After the recent defeat he moved from featherweight to bantamweight division (61.3kg). After M-1 annouced the Bantamweight Tournament, Vitruk managed to fight through another prospective opponent - Sergey Morozov. Now Pavel will fight unstoppable prospect Vitaliy Branchuk for the first ever M-1 Bantamweight title.

Vitali Branchuk (21-5) (on the photo below) is a discover of the year in Eurasian MMA Bantamweight division. He represents "The Patriot" MMA Fighting club from Dnepropetrovsk city, Ukraine. Vitali Branchuk is currently leading 8 fights winning streak, defeating Antun "Killer" Racic in his nearest MMA performance. He is a well-rounded fighter with a solid striking game. Like his opponent, Vitali prefers the straight engagement style in fight.

Stephan "T-800" Puetz (14-2) is a former M-1 Lightheavyweight champion, representing Team MMA Spirit, Germany. He is ranked #26 fighter according to FightMatrix.com's Lightheavyweight fighters of the World. In his most recent M-1 appearance, Stephan defeated Andrey Seledtsov via unanimous decision. His only two career losses came via decisions. The main qualities of "T-800" are phenomenal endurance, full-scale MMA skillset and balanced fight tactics.

Marcus Vinicius Lopes (10-4) is a local MMA star out of Brazil. In his M-1 debut Marcus defeated Kurban Ibragimov and now he is ready for the toughest challenge in his career in person of Stephan Puetz.

Kingfedor wrote:
Stephan "T-800" Puetz (14-2) is a former M-1 Lightheavyweight champion, representing Team MMA Spirit, Germany. He is ranked #26 fighter according to FightMatrix.com's Lightheavyweight fighters of the World. In his most recent M-1 appearance, Stephan defeated Andrey Seledtsov via unanimous decision. His only two career losses came via decisions. The main qualities of "T-800" are phenomenal endurance, full-scale MMA skillset and balanced fight tactics.

Marcus Vinicius Lopes (10-4) is a local MMA star out of Brazil. In his M-1 debut Marcus defeated Kurban Ibragimov and now he is ready for the toughest challenge in his career in person of Stephan Puetz.

I'd like to see Vegh take the M-1 title. Been watching him fight for a long time now and always thought he would get a belt from a major org. This could be it.

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia (October 3, 2016) – M-1 Global stars will be out Friday, October 21, for M-1 Challenge 71 as two new intriguing bouts have been added to an already loaded main card in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Russian welterweight Sergey Romanov will take on Brazilian fighter Carlos Alexandre “Indio” Pereira, former M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Stephan “T-800” Puetz, of Germany, faces Brazilian opponent Marcus Vinicius “Montanha” Lopes, and M-1 Challenge welterweight champion Alexander Butenkomeets Brazilian Rubenilton “Rubinkho” Pereira in a non-title bout..

Heavyweight
1. Vitaly Minakov (Fight Nights)    
2. Blagoi Ivanov (PFL) 
3. Cheick Kongo (Bellator)
4. Tony Johnson Jr. (Fight Nights)
5. Matt Mitrione (Bellator)
6. Javy Ayala(Bellator) 
7. Sergei Kharitonov (Bellator) 
8. Fedor Emelianenko (Bellator)
9. Amir Aliakbari (RIZIN)
10. Marcin Różalski (KSW )

Other Contenders: Karol Bedorf (KSW), Brandon Vera (ONE  ), Evgeny Erokhin (ACB) , Ivan Shtyrkov (RCC), Bobby Lashley (Bellator) 

Light Heavyweight
1. Ryan Bader (Bellator )
2. Phil Davis (Bellator)
3. Muhammed Lawal (Bellator)      
4. Tomasz  Narkun (KSW )   
5. Linton Vassell (Bellator)      
6. Liam McGeary (Bellator)     
7. Rashid Yusupov (M-1 Global )
8. Quinton Jackson (Bellator)
9. Jiří Procházka (RIZIN)   
10. Valentin Moldavsky (Bellator)        

Other Contenders: Chael Sonnen (Bellator) , Roger Gracie (ONE ), Stephan Puetz (M-1 Global), Batraz Agnaev (ACB ), Karl Albrektsson (RIZIN)

Middleweight
1. Gegard Mousasi (Bellator)  
2. Mamed Khalidov (KSW )
3. Alexander Shlemenko (M-1 Global) 1
4. Rafael Carvalho (Bellator )  1
5. John Salter (Bellator)  1
6. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (ACB)  1     
7. Michał Materla (KSW) 1   
8. Viktor Nemkov (M-1 Global)  1 
9. Aung La Nsang(ONE )  1
10. Hisaki Kato (Bellator) *N.R

Other Contenders: Jung Hwan Cha (ROAD FC  ), Vladimir Mineev (Fight Nights) , Alessio Sakara (Bellator), Vitaly Bigdash (ONE),  Anatoly Tokov (Bellator) 

Welterweight
1. Ben Askren (ONE  )
2. Douglas Lima (Bellator )  
3. Rory MacDonald (Bellator)  
4. Andrey Koreshkov (Bellator) 1 
5. Jon Fitch (PFL )  1
6. Paul Daley (Bellator)   
7. Jake Shields (PFL)       
8. Michael Page (Bellator)       
9. Borys Mańkowski (KSW )  
10. Alexey Kunchenko (M-1 Global  )     

Other Contenders:  Zebaztian Kadestam (ONE) , Rousimar Palhares (Fight Nights), Muslim Salikhov (Kunlun), Lorenz Larkin (Bellator), Abubakar Nurmagomedov (PFL)

Lightweight
1. Brent Primus (Bellator )
2. Eduard Folayang (ONE )
3. Michael Chandler (Bellator) 
4. Benson Henderson (Bellator) 
5. Shinya Aoki (ONE)      
6. Derek Campos (Bellator) 
7. Lowen Tynanes (ONE)     
8. Mateusz Gamrot (KSW )  1        
9. Yusuke Yachi (RIZIN) 1
10. Jason High (PFL) *N.R      

Other Contenders:  Eduard Vartanyan (ACB) , Patricky "Pitbull" Freire (Bellator), Satoru Kitaoka (RIZIN) , Derek Anderson (Bellator), Brian Foster  (PFL)

Featherweight
1. Patricio "Pitbull" Freire (Bellator ) 
2. Daniel Weichel (Bellator)    
3. Daniel Straus (Bellator)   
4. Pat Curran (Bellator)
5. Martin Nguyen (ONE )  5  
6. Andre Harrison (PFL) 
7. Magomed Idrisov (M-1 Global) 
8. Kron Gracie (RIZIN)         
9. Marat Gafurov (ONE)  5
10. Ivan Buchinger (M-1 Global )

Other Contenders: James Gallagher (Bellator), Kazunori Yokota (DEEP ), Bubba Jenkins (ACB), Alexandre de Almeida (PFL), Lance Palmer (PFL) 

Bantamweight
1. Bibiano Fernandes (ONE )
2. Eduardo Dantas (Bellator ) 
3. Kyoji Horiguchi (RIZIN) 
4. Soo Chul Kim (ROAD FC )     
5. Darrion Caldwell (Bellator)              
6. Emmanuel Sanchez (Bellator)                
7. Marcos Galvão (Bellator)       
8. Joe Warren (Bellator)   
9.  Shintaro Ishiwatari (Pancrase )     
10. Timur Valiev (PFL)  

Other Contenders: Joe Taimanglo (Bellator), Takafumi Otsuka (DEEP ), Rafael Silva (Pancrase), Masakatsu Ueda (Pancrase), Michael McDonald (Bellator)

Flyweight
1. Kyoji Horiguchi (RIZIN)     
2. Adriano Moraes (Interim ONE )  
3. Tatsumitsu Wada (DEEP )        
4. Hiromasa Ogikubo (Shooto)       
5. Tyson Nam (Fight Nights)    
6. Ali Bagautinov (Fight Nights)      
7. Chico Camus (RFA)         
8.Yusaku Nakamura (DEEP)          
9. Askar Askarov (ACB )       
10. Zach Makovsky ACB)

Other Contenders: Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pancrase ), Jose "Shorty" Torres (Titan FC ),  Rogério Bontorin (Pancrase), Bruno Azevedo (WFCA), Takeshi Kasugai (Pancrase) 

Strawweight
1. Yoshitaka Naito (ONE FC )
2. Mitsuhisa Sunabe (King Of Pancrase  )
3. Kent Kambe (Pancrase)    
4. Daichi Kitakata (Pancrase)    
5. Ryohei Kurosawa  (Shooto )
6. Raymison Bruno (Pancrase)  1 
7. Hayato Suzuki  (ONE FC) *N.R   
8. Joshua Pacio (ONE FC) 2  
9. Kanta Sato (Deep)
10. Marcus Amaral (Free Agent)  

Other Contenders: Marcone Muniz (Aspera FC) , Gilberto Dias (Jungle Fight ),Ryuto Sawada (Shooto), Fábio Henrique (Free Agent),Daniel Lima (Aspera FC)

Women's Featherweight
1. Julia Budd (Bellator )       
2. Ediane Gomes (Invicta FC)   
3. Pam Sorenson (Invicta FC)  
4. Leah Letson (Invicta FC)
5. Iony Razafiarison (Bellator) 
6. Helena Kolesnyk (Invicta FC)     
7. Arlene Blencowe (Bellator)     
8. Alexis Dufresne (Bellator)         
9. Daria Ibragimova (Invicta FC)          
10. Charmaine Tweet (Invicta FC)

Other Contenders:Bobbi-Jo Dalziel (CFFC)  ,Faith Van Duin (Invicta FC) ,Jamie Herrington (Legacy FC),Latoya Walker (Invicta FC),Sinead Kavanagh (Bellator)  

Women's Flyweight
1. Jennifer Maia (Invicta FC ) 
2. Ariane Lipski (KSW ) 
3. Agnieszka Niedźwiedź  (Invicta FC)      
4. Simone Duarte (Jungle Fight )
5. Vanessa Porto (Invicta FC)  1     
6. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (Bellator)  2    
7. Sarah D'Alelio (Bellator)    
8. Andrea Lee (LFA ) 1
9. Rin Nakai (Pancrase)  1  
10. Kate Jackson (Bellator) *N.R

Other Contenders: Brogan Walker (PXC) , Diana Belbiţă (KSW), Valérie Létourneau (Bellator), Jingnan Xiong (Kunlun Fight) , Lena Ovchynnikova (Bellator)

M1 Challenge 71: Brazos vs. Ruskies

I like this card, hopefully I can get around to watching it.

 
Alexander Butenko vs Rubenilton Pereira fight added to M-1 Challenge 71

Alexander Butenko (41-11-2) is a reigning M-1 Lightweight champion who hasn't lost a fight since 2015.He is a powerful wrestler who can ragdoll his opponents with no efforts. He defeated Artem Damkovski via decision in his recent M-1 appearance in June.

Rubenilton Pereira (16-2) is a 23 years old prospect from Brasil. He is :"Nocaut Combat" and "Champion Combat" Champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jiutsu Brown belt.

The match-up is a non-title fight in a 73kg catchweight.