Known for his tight clinch work, deadly spinning back-kicks and head-hunting high kicks, Action-Force Fight Team’s feared Russian striker, Arthur Guseinov is ready to make his North American debut and go head-to-head against the 2010 M-1 Selection middleweight tournament winner, Tyson ‘The Anti-Hero’ Jeffries at M-1 Challenge: Bennett vs. Garner. Fans can capture the action from The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California LIVE on SHOWTIME on Friday, July 8 at 11 p.m. ET/PT (Delayed on the West Coast).
Guseinov’s lightning-quick striking arsenal is responsible for the majority of his KO / TKO victories, anchoring his hard-earned 7-2 professional record (dig a little deeper into his background and one will find a long list of amateur wins adding to a combined record of 14-2). Although coming off back-to-back losses against Russian submission specialist, Beslan Esaev and staunch American scrapper, Luigi Fioravanti, expect his exciting fighting style to be well received by the North American audience as he brings a high powered offensive directly into Jeffries’ path.
Guseinov returned to the ring of Europe’s leading mixed martial arts promotion in 2010 after being summoned to step in on short notice to face Fioravanti after Shahrijar Abassov was forced to withdraw after suffering a late training injury. Even with injuries a part of the daily grind in the sport, being called upon as a replacement fighter in the time of need is what differentiates one’s fighting spirit; the talented striker with a formidable karate background gave his all in a dramatic back and forth affair that captured the cards Fight of the Night top-honour, losing via RNC submission in the overtime round.
Since making his professional debut in October 2005, the crafty technician has ended all his bouts in the first round except for one; the lone decision victory came against newly crowned Middleweight Champion, Magomed “The White Wolf” Sultanakhmedov in the opening round of the 2009 M-1 Selection European tournament.
Considered a small 185’er by North American standards, Guseinov will have to rely on his striking arsenal and open the bout with a blitzkrieg attack to overwhelm Jeffries; the punishment needs to come fast and unrelenting as The Anti-Hero has proven to possess an iron chin and an unbreakable will.
Holding a coveted win over Sultanakhmedov, the ‘what-if’ implications of a Guseinov win can be hashed out from every angle but ultimately Guseinov is only concerned with standing victorious on July 8th; but in this case, it’s easy to predict the matchmaker’s plan of sliding Guseinov into a future title bout.
M-1 Challenge: Bennett vs. Garner airs LIVE on SHOWTIME on Friday, July 8 at 11 p.m. ET/PT (Delayed on the West Coast).
Tickets are priced at $75 for the front row and all other seats at $50 and can be purchased online at www.fightcluboc.com, or by calling Roy Englebrecht Promotions at (949) 760-3131. The Hangar is a brand new 1,500 state of the art arena and has already seen three Fight Club OC sell-outs in February, April, and June.
Mauro Ranallo will call the action from ringside with Pat Miletich serving as analyst. The telecast will be produced by Chuck McKean and directed by Craig Farrell. The executive producer of SHOWTIME Sports is David Dinkins, Jr.
With M-1 Challenge champions established in all five weight classes, a true contenders system will fuel events throughout 2011, driving M-1 Global’s growth as a leading brand in the US and international markets.
2011’s full slate of M-1 Challenge events held in the United States and Europe are primed to be mega-event spectaculars where Champions defend their titles and contenders jockey for position for a coveted shot at the gold. Feeding the contention system will be two Selection tournaments in 2011 with details being announced shortly.
For information on M-1 Global, go to the official M-1 website, www.M-1Global.com and M-1 Global facebook fan page.
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