Josh Rettinghouse, Lee Morrison to Compete at M-1 Challenge 73

M-1 Global announced on Wednesday that two American fighters have been added to M-1 Challenge 73. Lee Morrison and Josh Rettinghouse have been tacked onto the final M-1 Challenge show of the year set for Dec. 9 in Ingushetia, Russia.

Morrison is slated to oppose unbeaten local prospect Moysar Evoloev in a 140-pound catchweight battle while Rettinghouse will take on fellow bantamweight Sergey Morozov. M-1 Challenge 73 will be headlined by Ramazan Emeev defending his middleweight title against Anatoly Tokov.

Emeev is ready to assume his position as the promotion’s king at 185 pounds. He had to withdraw from the M-1 Grand Prix Middleweight Championship against Alexander Shlemenko earlier in the year due to a torn ligament in his elbow. Tokov, meanwhile, has won 17 consecutive battles with eight coming via knockout and four by way of submission.

In the co-feature, Ivan Buchinger will put his featherweight title on the line when he faces Magomed Idrisov.

Buchinger is enjoying a 10-fight winning streak dating back nearly four years. The last time “Buki” tasted defeat was in 2012 when Conor McGregor knocked him out in the opening frame of a bout at Cage Warriors 51. Since then, the Slovakian has been on a tear, capturing the M-1 145-pound title by knocking out Tural Ragimov in the fourth and then defending it twice.

While Idrisov doesn’t have as much experience as the champ, the Russian hasn’t lost in the pros and has looked terrific since joining M-1. He last fought Sergej Grecicho at M-1 Challenge 61 last September and won via dominant decision and. He was supposed to fight Buchinger for the title in June but the bout was postponed.