Rising mixed-martial-arts star Roman Bogatov remained undefeated, defeating Michel “Sassarito” Silva today, in the WKG & M-1 Challenge main event, held in Harbin, China.
Bogatov (8-0-0) used his master submission skills against his Brazilian challenger, employing an arm triangle choke to submit Silva in the second round, putting him to sleep, for his first successful title defense of the title he won last September at M-1 Challenge 97, when he won a unanimous decision victory over Rubenilton Pereira.
During his relative short MMA career, Bogatov has won all eight of his pro fights, including seven in M-1 Global competition. Bogatov handed Silva his first career loss in which the Brazilian didn’t finish the complete match.
Silva (22-8-1), who refused to tap out, has stopped 15 of his opponents by knockout, but two of his last three fights were won by submission, all in M-1 competition, positioning him for this unsuccessful title shot.
Local fans were thrilled by the co-featured event, in which China bantamweight Huoyixibai Chuhayifu (11-3-1) knocked out his American rival, Edward “The Ninja” Massey (5-3-0), on punches in the third round. Chuhayifu was the only Chinese fighter out of four who fought on the card to win. In what was technically the final fight of the night, Huyixibai constantly put down Massey before the closing the show with an effective ground-and-pound attack.
In a highly competitive, close fight, former M-1 Challenge lightweight champion Alexander “Iron Capture” Butenko (47-14-3), of Russia, took a controversial, three-round majority-decision victory over Brazilian welterweight Gian “Pitbull” Siqueia (16-4-0).
Brazilian welterweight Tiago “Bahia” Varejao Lacerda (28-6-1) knocked out Kuerbanjiang Tuluosibake (22-10-0), of China, via punches in the first round (0.40) in what was the fastest conclusion of all the fights on this card.
M-1 Challenge bantamweight title challenger Rafael Dias (15-6-1), of Brazil, and Georgian National MMA and kickboxing champion Vazha Tsiptauri (6-1-2) fought to a three-round draw. Tsiptauri would have won the decision if he hadn’t been penalized one-point for a headbutt.
On the undercard, Georgian lightweight Raul Tutarauli (19-5-0) used a rear naked choke to force Yoislandy “Cuba” Izquierdo (12-5-) for an impressive win by way of first-round submission, American lightweight Daniel “Agent Orange” Swain (19-9-1) choked Ukrainian Maxim Pashkov (13-6-0) into an opening-round submission, and Greek bantamweight Ellina Kallionidou (7-2-0) stopped Chinese fan-favorite and previously undefeated Quihui Yan (11-1-0) in the third round of a rare M-1 female bout. Kallionidou knocked out Yan cold with a vicious knee.
Russian light heavyweight Dmitry Tebekin (10-4-0) and Russian featherweight Akhmadkhan Bokov (5-4-0) were unanimous decision winners, respectively, against Marcin “Bane” Lazarz (11-7-0), of Poland, and Kangkang “The Knife” Fu (4-3-0), of China.
M-1 CHALLENGE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Roman Bogatov (8-0-0, M-1: 7-0-0), Champion, Russia
WSUB2 (arm triangle choke – 3:09)
Michel Silva (22-8-1, M-1: 3-3-0), Challenger, Brazil
(Bogatov retained M-1 Challenge lightweight title)
Huoyixibai Chuhayifu (11-3-1, M-1: 2-1-0), China
WTKO3 (punches – 4:32)
Edward Massey (5-3-0, M-1: 1-1-0), USA
Alexander Butenko (47-14-3, M-1: 12-3-1), Russia
WDEC3
Gian Siqueia (16-4-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Brazil
Tiago Varejao Lacerda (28-6-1, M-1: 2-1-0), Brazil
WTKO1 (punches – 0:40)
Kuerbanjiang Tuluosibake (23-10-0, M-1: 2-1-0), China
Rafael Dias (15-6-1, M-1: 1-1-1), Brazil
D3
Vazha Tsiptauri (6-1-1, M-1: 4-0-1), Georgia
Dmitry Tebekin (10-4-0, M-1: 4-1-0), Russia
WDEC3
Marcin Lazarz (11-7-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Poland
Raul Tutarauli (19-5-0, M-1: 7-3-0), Georgia
WSUB1 (rear naked choke – 3:47)
Yoislandy Izquierdo (12-5-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Cuba
Daniel Swain (19-9-1, M-1: 2-1-1), USA
WSUB1 (choke – 4:53)
Maxim Pashkov (13-6-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Ukraine
Akhmadkhan Bokov (5-4-0, M-1: 5-2-0), Russia
WDEC3
Kangkang Fu (3-4-0, M-1: 0-3-0), China
Ellina Kallionidou (7-2-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Greece
WKO3 (kick – 0:21)
Quihui Yan (11-1-0, M-1: 0-1-0), China