Friday night’s M-1 Challenge: Bennett vs. Garner event from The Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif. captured the live audience with jaw-dropping knockouts; those tuning in to the live telecast on SHOWTIME enjoyed endless replays as fighter after fighter went down to the mat in spectacular style. Four out of the card’s five televised bouts ended violently but one stood out above the rest: the middleweight battle between fierce Russian striker Arthur Guseinov and 2010 M-1Selections Americas tournament winner Tyson ‘The Anti-Hero’ Jeffries. At only 92 seconds into the contest, Guseinov landed an immaculate spinning back-fist on the proverbial button, simultaneously sending Jeffries to the canvass out cold and creating a viral shockwave throughout the world calling his Knockout of the Night a contender for one of the year’s best knockouts.
Opening the fight it was Jeffries who came out the aggressor, bringing the action to Guseinov and scoring the bout’s first takedown. Putting Guseinov on his back, the Team Quest scrapper took top control until a back-door escape brought the pair to their feet. After separating from a brief exchange, Guseinov backed off to create some distance, throwing some trash-talk back at his opponent; with a quick step forward, Guseinov unloaded the precision-placed spinning back-fist that Jeffries never saw coming in and re-established himself as one of the 185-pound division’s most-feared strikers.
Guseinov improves his combined amateur and professional record to 15-2 and it’s littered with KO / TKO victories thanks to a lightning-quick striking arsenal; the win halted a recent two-fight skid.
Since making his professional debut in October 2005, all of Guseinov’s victories have ended in the first round except one; the lone decision victory came against Magomed Sultanakhmedov in the opening round of the 2009 M-1 Selection European tournament; Sultanakhmedov is now the current M-1 Global Middleweight Champion. Holding this coveted win, the ‘what-if’ implications of a meeting between the 185-pound division’s gatekeeper and Guseinov are already under discussion; it’s easy to predict the plan involves sliding Guseinov into a future title bout.
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.
For information on SHOWTIME Sports programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go to the new SHOWTIME Sports website at http://www.sho.com/sports.
Link to Guseinov vs. Jeffries:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SL7jUFaEBk&feature=player_embedded
