All Fighters Cleared for Thursday’s M-1 Challenge 25

Shamil Zavurov and Yasubey Enomoto meet Thursday in St. Petersburg. | Photo courtesy: M-1 Global

The event takes place Thursday at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, and will stream live on M-1 Global’s official website beginning at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT.

The red-hot Zavurov, 26, enters his second title defense on a 10-fight win streak, including a 9-0 run in 2010 which saw him claim the title with a fourth-round knockout of Spain’s Abner Lloveras. The RusFighters Sport Club representative retained his belt at M-1 Challenge 23 in March, halting 2010 M-1 Selection Americas tournament winner Tom Gallicchio in the second frame.

Enomoto, 27, also had a breakout year in 2010, embarking on a surprising run in Sengoku’s welterweight grand prix. After upsetting UFC and Pride vet Sanae Kikuta with a first-round TKO, the Swiss standout topped Taisuke Okuno and Kenta Takagi to reach the tournament final, where he lost to Keita Nakamura on Dec. 30.

Also on Thursday’s bill is a bout for the vacant M-1 light heavyweight title, with surging BJJ specialist Vinny Magalhaes (204) taking on Red Devil fighter Viktor Nemkov (204.75). Magalhaes has won five of six since being released by the UFC in 2009, while Nemkov comes in riding three consecutive wins.

Other bouts of note include a middleweight tilt between UFC vets Luigi Fioravanti (184.5) and Andrei Semenov (184); a welterweight matchup featuring unbeaten German Christian Eckerlin (169) and Russia’s Alexander Yakovlev (169.75); and a welterweight attraction between unbeaten Spaniard Juan Manuel Suarez (168) and Arsen Temirkhanov (166.75).

M-1 Welterweight Title Bout
Shamil Zavurov (169.75) vs. Yasubey Enomoto (169.5)

M-1 Light Heavyweight Title Bout
Vinny Magalhaes (204) vs. Viktor Nemkov (204.75)

Andrei Semenov (184) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (184.5)
Alexander Yakovlev (169) vs. Christian Eckerlin (169)
Alexander Volkov (220.25) vs. Denis Goltsov (213)
Murad Magomedov (181.75) vs. Ramazan Emeev (183.75)
Arsen Temirkhanov (166.75) vs. Juan Manuel Suarez (168)
Mikhail Zayats (201.25) vs. Malik Merad (197.75)
Maxim Grishin (224.75) vs. Vladimir Kuchenko (287)
Albert Akhmetov (175) vs. Ramazan Esenbaev (170)