M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champ Puetz vs. Myasnikov Dec. 17 in Russia

Nov 17, 2014

(PRESS RELEASE) -- ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Stephan Puetz (11-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB) will make his second title defense December 17 against unbeaten challenger Valery Myasnikov (8-0-0, 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB), headlining M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB 12 at Palais des Sports Ice in St. Petersburg, Russia.

M-1 Global and ACB are co-promoting M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB 12. M-1 Global, which grew out of the League MMA M-1, traces its history back to 1997. It has promoted 180 events including nearly 10,000 fights. Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB) burst on the Russian MMA scene earlier this year, highlighted by its Grand Prix that featured more than 100 fighters.

Puetz, fighting out of Munich, Germany, is recognized as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in Europe. He captured the M-1 Challenge title this past March 14 at M-1 Challenge 46, taking a five-round decision from Viktor Nemkov (9-1-0). Puetz' first title defense was at M-1 Challenge 50 this past August, in which he defeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Luis Fernando Miranda (10-1-0) by way of a second-round submission (choke).

The 23-year-old Myasnikov, fighting out of Moscow, will be making his M-1 Challenge debut against Puetz. Myasnikov has been a professional mixed-martial-arts fighter for three years and seven of his eight fights have ended in the opening round, six times by knockout. He was a multiple MMA and boxing champion as an amateur and holds the title of Master of Sports in both disciplines.

Also on the main card are a pair of unbeaten fighters, Ukrainian Maxim Divnich (9-0-0, 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB) and Russian Djambulat Kurbanov (6-0-1, 0 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), who will be fighting for the vacant M-1 Challenge lightweight title.

A middleweight fight between Anatoly Tokov (18-1-0), of Russia, and Enoc Solves Torres (15-7-0), fighting out of Spain, has been added to determine the No. 1 challenger for reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Vyachevlav Vasilevsky.

The 24-year-old Tokov is one of the highest-rated Russian middleweight prospects. Only four of his 16 victories went the full distance. Tokov, who has won his last nine fights, was also the winner in the second season of the M-1 Fighter reality show.

Torres is no stranger to Russian MMA fans having fought in seven M-1 events, including his last M-1 fight two years ago on M-1 Challenge 34, in which the Spaniard lost to Gregory Babene. Torres recently won the Friends of Honor Tournament in Madrid, where the special guests of honor included the famed Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Additional fights will soon be announced. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

M-1 Challenge 54 & ACB will be streamed in high definition on www.M1Global.TV, live from Russia. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Andriod and Apple smart phones and tablets.

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ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world's next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and matchups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport's top names, including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global's Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global's greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.

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