M-1 CHALLENGE 87 RESULTS & PICTURES 

A full house celebrated the Grand Opening of M-1 Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia (February 10, 2018) — Kazakhstan fighter Arman Ashimov upset Mikael “Hulk” Silander to capture the Interim M-1 Challenge flyweight title last night at M-1 Challenge 87, highlighted by the grand opening of M1 Arena in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Representatives of 11 different countries were in action last night: Russia, Finland, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Switzerland, Ubekistan, Spain, France, Georgia and Croatia.

Judges were not needed for only one of five main card matches, which ended in two knockouts or and a pair of submissions, much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowed in attendance.

  Ashimov (R) nails Silander

In the main event, Ashimov (8-2-1, M-1: 3-0-0) knocked out Silander (17-6-0, M-1: 1-1-0), fighting out Finland, in the second round by way of a perfectly placed uppercut.

M-1 Global promoter Vadim Finkelchtein (L) raised the arm of new M-1 Challenge champion Arman Ashimov

Russian featherweight Timur Nagibin (14-3-0, M-1: 6-2-0) upset Brazilian Jadison Dimitry “Tita” Silva (23-9-0, M-1: 1-0-0) in the second round, landing lethal punches, in the co-featured event.

Ukrainian light heavyweight Dmitry Mikutsa (8-3-1, M-1: 2-1-0) won a three-round unanimous decision over Kleber Raimundo “Orgulho” Silva (14-7-0, M-1: 1-1-0), of Brazil.

Undefeated Kazakh welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov (8-0-0, M-1: 6-0-0) kept his perfect pro record intact, choking out Russian foe Levan Solodovnik (5-2-0, M-1: 1-1-0) in the second round, while Swiss welterweight Pablo Ortman (8-0-0, M-1: 2-0-0) also remained unbeaten, locking a triangle choke on Russian Ingiskhan Ozdoev (5-4-0, M-1: 3-4-0) in the opening round.

The judges were much busier with the preliminary and pre-preliminary cards with five of 8 bouts going the full distant.

On the preliminary card, Russian lightweight Pavel Gordeev (10-1-0, M-1: 4-0-0) won a three-round unanimous decision over Bobur “Karshinskiy” Kurbonov (5-2-0, M-1: 0-1-0), of Uzbekistan, as did Russian welterweight Artem Nenakhov (7-2-0, M-1: 1-1-0) against Charles-Henri Tchoungui (9-8-1, M-1: 0-2-0), of France.

Russian heavyweight Adam Bogatyrev (6-0-0, M-1: 2-0-0) used his knee and fists to knock out Spaniard Jose “Agus” Augustin Jimenez Garcia (5-4-0, M-1: 0-1-0) in round one, Russian Danila Prikaza (9-2-1, M-1: 6-2-0) punched out his Brazilian opponent, Anderson “Fala Mansa” De Queiroz Diniz, (17-7-0, M-1: 0-1-0) in the first round. Georgian welterweight Amiran Gogoladze (5-1-0, M-1: 2-0-0) employed a Ninja choke to force Russian Stanislav “Stas” Podolsky (5-2-0, M-1: 1-1-0) into a submission.

Finland lightweight Jani Salmi (10-4-0, M-1: 1-1-0) and Ukrainian lightweight Anatoly Lyagu (6-2-1, M-1: 1-1-0) won unanimous three-round decisions, respectively, against Russian Nikolay Goncharov (2-2-2, M-1: 0-1-1) and Croatian Aleksandar Rakas (12-7-0, M-1: 0-1-0).

Spanish lightweight Tino Gilaranz (1-0-0, M-1: 1-0-0) won a three-round decision over Russian Valentin Krzyzhanovsky (0-1-0, M-1: 0-1-0) in a battle of pro-debut fighters.

INFORMATION:

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