M-1 Challenge 2009: Team Korea vs. Team Imperial

Returning for a second season in 2009, M-1 Global and Affliction Entertainment present M-1 Challenge 2009.  Dubbed the “World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts,” the M-1 Challenge is a year-long round-robin tournament which pits national teams of MMA fighters in a series of dual meets which take place in countries across the world.  This year, the M-1 roster has grown from 10 to 16 teams, with additional teams hailing from the US, Turkey, Brazil, Benelux, and Bulgaria.

Rules of the M-1 Challenge are primarily PRIDE-based, with three judges scoring two five-minute rounds (with the possibility of a third round in the event of a draw).  Elbows to the head or the throat of an opponent are illegal, as is kicking or kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.  Team standings are based on team victories, followed by cumulative individual match victories.

This meet originally took place on February 21^st of this year, at the Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino in Tacoma, WA.  Handling the announcing duties are Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith.

Lightweight (154 lbs. / 70.3 kg.) – Do-hyung Kim (Team Korea) vs. Mikhail Malyutin (Team Imperial)

Kim fought at welterweight for Team Korea last year, defeating Farouk Lakebir of France and Erik Oganov of Russia Red Devil.  Malyutin went 3-1 in last year’s M-1 Challenge, including beating Cha Jin Wook when Russia Red Devil met Korea.  Both men would seem to have teammate revenge on their mind in this match.

Round One:  Both men are light on their feet, but hesitant to engage.  They clash with a double head butt that each painfully acknowledges.  Kim has his corner look at it.  Upon the restart, Malyutin gets the single leg takedown, but Kim grabs a tight rubber guard.  Referee Marco Broersen repositions them, and orders a standing restart shortly thereafter.  This is one of those moments when hardcore jiu-jitsu experts complain that other MMA fans don’t understand the ground game.  They clash with combinations.  Both men are looking for an opening, but neither seems to want to set things up or engage.  Malyutin takes it to the ground, stuck in Kim’s half guard.  Kim brings it back to the feet in the corner before the end of the round.

Round Two:  Before the round begins, Malyutin stands in the middle, trying to play mind games.  After some cautious circling, Malyutin shoots for the takedown.  Kim turns and almost clotheslines himself on the second rope like he’s setting himself up for the 619, but he’s able to twist and get top position.  Kim tries to initiate a ground-and-pound attack, but Malyutin focuses on the left leg, keeping him busy as the Korean looks for a shot from above.  He stuns Malyutin with a left, but Malyutin spins to his back and escapes to his feet in the corner.  Malyutin gets taken down, but pushes Kim off.  Kim jumps on him with an overhand right, gets Malyutin’s back, and almost rolls out of the ring.  They restart in the middle, but Malyutin can’t shake Kim off.  Kim throws ground and pound / rear naked choke to the end.  After the match and Malyutin applauds Kim.

Judges give the round to Do Hyung Kim via unanimous decision.  Team Korea chalks up their first win against Team Imperial.

Welterweight (167 lbs. / 75.7 kg.) – Myung-ho Bae (Team Korea) vs. Erik Oganov (Team Imperial)

Bae makes his M-1 Challenge debut tonight, having fought for the Japanese MARS promotion since 2006.  Oganov’s M-1 days go back to 2005.  Last year, he was submitted by Do Hyung Kim, who fights this year at lightweight.

Round Two:  Bae attempts a flying knee, but Oganov catches him and they fall back to the ropes.  Oganov instinctually grabs the ropes, but you can see in his face he doesn’t mean to.  Referee DeRobbio restarts them in the middle. Bae scores another trip takedown and peppers Oganov with hammerfists.  Bae gets a tight rear naked choke and taps Oganov out at 2:12 of the second round.

Team Korea is up 2-0, one win away from taking this team challenge and moral revenge for their loss last year.

Middleweight (185 lbs. / 83.9 kg.) – Hyung-yu Lim (Team Korea) vs. Dmitriy Samoylov (Team Imperial)

Lim is a boxer by training who won both of his M-1 matches last year, knocking out Lucio Linhares (Finland) and submitting Brandon Magana (USA).  Samoylov, a veteran of M-1, had a three-fight win streak before losing by decision to Jason Jones (Holland) in the M-1 Challenge finals last year.

Round One: Lim has the height and reach advantage here, and capitalizes on it with a left jab, but Samoylov responds with combos, tagging Lim in the face.  Lim slips and Samoylov is all over him.  Just as Lim is about to fall out of the ring, referee Anthony Hamlet halts the action and restarts them in the middle.  Lim tightens his guard and neutralizes Samoylov’s ground and pound offense.  After a restart to standing, Lim comes down with overhand rights, while Samoylov jabs away and slips in the occasional left low kick.  Samoylov is opened up over the left eye on the outside.  Both men have bad intentions behind their punches and are giving the fans bang for their buck.

Round Two:  Lim pushes Samoylov, who responds with a left-right combination.  Samoylov has found his pace, evading Lim’s shots and using his left low kick to set up for a right-left hook combination.  Samoylov throws a high kick just to keep Lim on his toes.  Lim’s left leg is taking a lot of damage.  Lim finally goes for the takedown, but Samoylov falls on him and is a house of fire, throwing combinations to the body.  Lim tries to pull closed guard, but Samoylov passes.  Lim escapes, taking it back to the feet.  Lim with a wild left body shot.  It looks like he’s used the last trick in his bag, because Samoylov is tapping him at will.

Judges give Dimitriy Samoylov the win via unanimous decision. Team Imperial keeps the competition alive with a victory to make it 2-1 Team Korea.

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs. / 93 kg.) – Jae-young Kim (Team Korea) vs. Mikhail Zayats (Team Imperial)

Zayats was one of the only M-1 Challenge fighters to go undefeated last year.  His only loss was to Daniel Tabera (Spain) in the Fedor Emelianenko Cup, which was not part of the regular M-1 Challenge season.  Kim is a Kyokushin karate expert nicknamed the “Windy Fighter,” due to his speed.  This graduate of Korea’s Spirit MC promotion is making his M-1 Challenge debut.

Round One:  Kim engages, but Zayats pushes him back with a combination, then gets him to the ground, eventually taking full mount.  But Kim bucks out and escapes, which the fans love  Zayats catches a high kick and trips Kim to the ground again.  Zayats legs are long enough that he can stay in half guard and lay perpendicular chest-to-chest.   He spins around for an armbar and gets in position, but almost falls out of the ring.  Kim escapes.  Zayats almost gets another from the bottom, but Kim spins out again.  Referee Hamlet finally restarts them in the corner with Zayats on the ground.  Zayats won’t give up on the arm, rolling to top position over Kim and cinching in a kimura.  But Kim’s low center of gravity is helping him stand up and step out.  Zayats tags Kim with a jab to the face, but he doesn’t flinch.  Zayats gets side position again, loosening Kim up with ground and pound.  He spins around for an armbar, but Kim follows with him, and stands up.  But Zayats stays with it and rolls to his stomach.  Kim continues to fight it.  Fans are on their feet and loving this match.  Kim hangs on to the end of the round.

Round Two:  Both these men are winded.  Kim with a left mid-kick, then a right head kick that drops Zayats face forward.  Zayats gets to his feet, but Kim continues with combinations to the face.  Kim lands another brutal-sounding left body kick and follows Zayats to the ground, throwing a ground and pound assault that the fans are just eating up.  Kim looks to the referee to stop it.  He transitions to side mount and goes for a kimura, then lays in harsh punches to the stomach and face.  Zayats escapes, baiting Kim into an open guard.  Zayats is holding on for dear life.  Kim is amped.  Referee Hamlet restarts them in the ring.  Zayats has nothing in him, but Kim is not pulling the trigger.  Zayats wings a spinning backfist, then an exhausted takedown attempt, but Kim sprawls with no problem.  Referee Hamlet calls Zayats for pulling on the shorts.  Kim’s logo patch is torn.  Zayats tries another spinning back fist, putting his hands on his hips as the universal sign of “I’m tired.”  Kim nails a left head kick that drops Zayats backwards.  Kim doesn’t even bother to follow Zayats to the ground, knowing he’s got the KO win at 4:02 of the second round.  Finally, betraying his own gas tank, Kim drops to his knees in exhaustion.

Team Korea takes the team challenge, 3-1, and gains revenge from last year.

Heavyweight (265 lbs. / 120.2 kg.) – Sang-soo Lee (Team Korea) vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk (Team Imperial)

Lee is a hard-hitting fighter with impressive wins over Roman Zenzov (Russia Red Devil) and Malick N’diaye (France).  Oliynyk is riding an eight-fight win streak since 2008, including winning two tournaments for Russia’s ProFC.  In that month alone, he fought five times, with at least three matches not going past the first round.

Round One:  Oliynyk starts with combinations, then shoots a takedown that Lee catches.  Lee maintains his balance as Oliynyk goes to his back and clinches.  Suddently, Oliynyk springs to Lee’s back and gets the hooks in, trying to open Lee up with punches from behind.  Lee blocks a rear naked choke with his chin.  Frankly, he doesn’t have much off a neck anyway.  Lee rolls to face Oliynyk, stands up, and takes his back.  Oliynyk sits to his back in Lee’s corner. Lee in full mount and fires head and body shots from the left.  Round ends.

Oliynyk gets the tap out with a 4:27 of the second round with a front / Ezekiel choke.

Team Imperial gets the last laugh of the night, but Team Korea laughs all the way home.

Best Match**: Kim vs. Zayats.  Lots of back and forth action, with several very close submission attempts and a highlight reel head kick that came out of nowhere.

Worst Match**: Lee vs. Oliynyk.  Based on the number of stand-up restarts, you can probably deduce the ground action here.  The Ezekiel choke is Oliynyk’s bread and butter, so the whole match seemed to be a set-up for it.

**(based on footage aired)

Finland, South Korea, and USA West ignite M-1’s 2009 Challenge

After debuting their team-based round robin tournament last year, M-1 Global held the first round of the 2009 M-1 Challenge this weekend at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA. The event pitted six teams in best-of-five “dual meet” action, ending with redeeming wins for Team South Korea, Team USA West, and Team Finland.

Marketed as the “World Cup of MMA,” the M-1 Challenge resumes this year with an expanded roster of 16 teams from 10 countries split into four groups.  New additions are teams from Brazil, Turkey, England, China, Bulgaria, and a second team from America, Team USA West. Last year’s rendition saw ten teams split into two groups of five, each team fighting four times within that group.

Coincidentally, the two name changes this year – Team Imperial and Team Benelux – met in the 2008 M-1 Challenge finals as Team Russia Red Devil and Team Holland, respectively.  The Red Devil’s beat the Dutch 4-1 to become the inaugural M-1 Challenge champions.

Ironically enough, redemption was the theme of the night at the Emerald Queen, as all three winning teams had a point to prove off of last year’s respective performances.  In 2008, Team Finland placed second in Group A to Team Russia Red Devil. They returned this year to beat 2008 Group B champions Team Holland by an individual fight score of 4-1.

Team South Korea also came up short last year against Team Russia Red Devil, losing early in the season and going 1-3 in team challenges for 2008. In this rematch, Team South Korea claimed victory 3-2 over the renamed Team Imperial, spotlighted by workhorse performances by lightweight Do Hyung Kim and middleweight Myung Ho Bae.  But it was Jae Young Kim’s second round head kick KO of Mikhail Zayats, one of M-1’s top stars, which surprised many.

In the third and final team challenge, two new teams, Team USA West and Team Brazil, debuted, with the Americans winning 3-2.  Although Team USA West is a new addition to the M-1 Challenge, their victory was something of a response to Team USA’s 2008 performance (1-3 in tem challenges and 6-14 in individual fights), the worst the entire season.

TEAM FINLAND VS. TEAM BENELUX

Lightweight (154 lbs. / 70.3 kg.) – Danny Van Bergen (Team Benelux) def. Juha-Pekka Vaininkainen (Team Finland) via unanimous decision.

Round one saw Vaininkainen use his significantly longer reach to his advantage, tagging Van Bergen at with jabs and right straights, but Von Bergen was a house of fire, working a triangle choke. Van Bergen, seemingly the better conditioned of the two, continued the ground assault in round two with a side triangle and an armbar. Van Bergen’s win gave Team Benelux the 1-0 lead.

Welterweight (167 lbs. / 75.7 kg.) – Janne Tulirinta (Team Finland) sub. Tommy Depret (Team Benelux) at 2:30 of round one.

Depret and Tulirinta started out trading shots on the feet, and then traded top position on the ground after a Tulirinta takedown. Making their way back to the feet, in what is a sure rarity, if not a first, Tulirinta slapped on a standing D’Arce choke, pulling back hard enough that Depret actually threw his legs up in the air, tapping out at 2:30 of the first round. The submission win tied things up 1-1.

Middleweight (185 lbs. / 83.9 kg.) – Lucio Linhares (Team Finland) sub. Kamil Uygun (Team Benelux)  at 1:22 of round one.

Linhares scored a takedown early in the round, briefly getting caught in Uygun’s half-guard. He eventually got the back and proceeded to pound Uygun’s side with fists. As Uygun tried to turn to his back, Linhares grabbed the left arm and sat back for the armbar submission. Team Finland pulls ahead 2-1 in the team challenge.

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs. / 93 kg.) – Marcus Vanttinen (Team Finland) def. Jason Jones (Team Benelux) via unanimous decision.

Although he came alive at the end of the first round with a hip toss takedown and heavy right hands, for the most part, Jones didn’t have the answers to Vanttinen’s right kicks or ground game. In round two, Vanttinen stuffed numerous takedown attempts, later punishing Jones with 50+ ground-and-pound shots from top position. Vanttinen’s victory secured the team challenge victory for Team Finland, 3-1.

Heavyweight (265 lbs. / 120.2 kg.) – Toni Valtonen (Team Finland) KO Sander Duiyvis (Team Benelux) in 0:18 of round one.

In the “freak accident” win of the night, Duiyvis was knocked unconscious as the back of his head hit the mat off a Valtonen takedown early in the first round. Valtonen fired three more shots before the referee was able to pull him off Duiyvis. This win added insult to injury as Team Finland finished the night 4-1.

TEAM SOUTH KOREA VS. TEAM IMPERIAL

Lightweight (154 lbs. / 70.3 kg.) – Do Hyung Kim (Team South Korea) def. Mikhail Malyutin (Team Imperial) via unanimous decision.

Malyutin scored two takedowns in the first round, although Kim worked from rubber guard below. In the second round, Kim turned on the heat, forcing a ground-and-pound strategy on the ground and standing over Malyutin. Team South Korea got on the board first with this victory, 1-0.

Welterweight (167 lbs. / 75.7 kg.) – Myung Ho Bae (Team South Korea) sub. Erik Oganov (Team Imperial) at 2:12 of the second round.

Myung Ho Bae showed charisma and skill over Oganov, dominating him with ground-and-pound punishment for most of the first round. In round two, Bae brought more of the same until getting a tight rear naked choke for the submission, which put Team South Korea up 2-0.

Middleweight (185 lbs. / 83.9 kg.) – Dmitriy Samoylov (Team Imperial) def. Hyungyu Lim (Team South Korea) via unanimous decision.

Fans were firmly behind this match, as Lim and Samoylov traded shots with bad intentions in round one. Despite Lim’s reach advantage, Samoylov connected with his jab. The Russian continued the standing assault in round two, in addition to body shots on the ground. Samoylov’s win kept Team Imperial alive, 1-2 in individual fights.

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs. / 93 kg.) – Jae Young Kim (Team South Korea) KO Mikhail Zayats (Team Imperial) at 4:02 of round two.

Zayats had a sizeable reach advantage over Kim, which benefitted the Russian both standing and working submissions on the ground. By round two, however, both men were exhausted, Zayats even showed his cards by putting his hands on his hips in fatigue. Kim followed up with a left head kick that dropped Zayats backwards like a Nestea plunge and gave Team South Korea the team challenge and vindication for their loss to Team Russia Red Devil last year.

Heavyweight (265 lbs. / 120.2 kg.) – Oleksiy Oliynyk (Team Imperial) sub. Sangsoo Lee (Team South Korea) at 4:27 of round two.

Oliynyk controlled Lee from bottom position during most of round one, working for a rear naked choke. Lee fought back with combinations and knees in a Greco-Roman clinch standing in round two, but Oliynyk catches Lee with a front / Ezekiel choke to claim the last laugh of the night for Mother Russia.

TEAM USA WEST VS. TEAM BRAZIL

Lightweight (154 lbs. / 70.3 kg.) – David Jansen (Team USA West) def. Flavio Alvaro (Team Brazil) via unanimous decision.

Jansen worked the D’Arce choke several times throughout the match.  Round one saw Jansen stick-and-move on the feet, as well as taking Alvaro down almost at will. Alvaro escaped from several submission attempts in round two, but Jansen claimed top position and ground-and-pounded his way to the end of the match. The crowd fervently embraced Jansen’s victory with loud “U-S-A” chants as the hometown favorites started the night off with a 1-0 lead.

Welterweight (167 lbs. / 75.7 kg.) – Eduardo Pamplona (Team Brazil) TKO Dylan Clay (Team USA West) at 2:48 of the third round.

Clay and Pamplona traded heavy leather in the first round, as well as forcing each other to the mat – Clay with a takedown and Pamplona with a knockdown. Clay scored two more takedowns in round two, also amid fists of fury from both combatants. As judges each gave a round to Clay and Pamplona, a third round was ordered. Pamplona gained top position off a Clay takedown attempt and rained rights down until referee Marco Broersen stopped the match. With this, Brazil tied the team challenge at 1-1.

Middleweight (185 lbs. / 83.9 kg.) – Reggie Orr (Team USA West) def. Juliano Belgine (Team Brazil) via split decision.

Belgine looked to take the fight to the ground, as he attempted numerous unsuccessful takedowns in round one. He did get Orr to the ground twice in round two, but each time, Orr dropped hammerfists in the guard until he could escape. Orr’s victory allowed Team USA West to maintain the lead 2-1.

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs. / 93 kg.) – Raphael Davis (Team USA) TKO Jair Goncalves, Jr. (Team Brazil) at 4:05 of the first round.

Davis was not afraid to engage on the feet with the taller Goncalves, who caught Davis with a standing guillotine. Goncalves pulled guard and worked for an armbar, but Davis escaped the lock and made his way to side mount, where he leaned into the felled Brazilian as he fired rights. Finally, referee Marco Broersen called the match, much to the protest of Team Brazil. Team USA West pulled ahead and claimed the team challenge, 3-1.

Heavyweight (265 lbs. / 120.2 kg.) – Jose Edson Franca (Team Brazil) def. Carl Seumanutafa (Team USA) via split decision.

Both fighters were on the higher side of the heavyweight limit, at 243 and 260.  Round one saw Franca shoot and pull guard several times, to which Seumanutafa answered with body shots.  After some jockeying for position against the ropes in round two, Franca got the mount on the ground and tenderized Seumanutafa’s body with shots until the end of the round.  Although Team Brazil won the final match of the night, Team USA went home with the team challenge win, 3-2.

M-1 Challenge’s next event is currently scheduled for March 21^st in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Anticipated team challenges include Team Bulgaria vs. Team USA East, Team China vs. World Team, and Team Turkey vs. TBA)

M-1 Challenge: Team Holland vs. Team Russia Red Devil

Over eight long months, M-1 Global has hosted ten MMA events in nine different countries.  Fighters from all over the world have competed and represented their homelands in what has been nicknamed the “World Cup of MMA.”  And in that time, two teams have rose to the occasion and taken the top spot in their respective divisions.  Finally, Team Holland and Team Russia Red Devil battle head-to-head for the M-1 Challenge championship.

This event originally took place on January 11th at Studio 47 in Amsterdam, Holland.   As always, announcers Sean Wheelock and Fight Quest’s Jimmy Smith are on-hand to call the matches.

Also worthy of note is that the matches tonight consist of three five-minute rounds, as opposed to the “two fives” of the regular season.

Lightweight Division:   Bogdan Christea (Team Holland) vs. Mikhail Malutin (Team Russia Red Devil)

Both Malutin and Christea are 3-1 in this year’s M-1 Challenge.  Malutin started the year out with a frustrating decision loss Bendy Casimir (Team France), but went on to win the rest of his M-1 Challenge matches.  Christea won twice by choke and once by TKO, but he lost a hard-fought battle to Daisuke Nakamura (Team Japan) via decision.

Round Two (joined in progress):  Color commentator Jimmy Smith recaps that Malutin likely won round one 10-9 for control and heavier hands.  Malutin shoots for the single-leg, but Christea jumps guard and pulls him to the ground.  They’re both busy, but referee Daisuke Noguchi stands them up.  Christea stuffs a takedown and almost gets the back, but Malutin regains top position.  Christea is making Malutin work hard for little effect, but they’re stood up again.  Christea drops Malutin with a left hook just seconds before round’s end.

Round Three:  Christea is unable to trip Malutin over from a waist clinch, but he gets the Russian to the ground and takes top position regardless.  He bulls Malutin into the corner and eventually gets a rear naked choke but Malutin spins around and takes the top. Referee Noguchi repositions them in the middle.  Lots of rolling and scrapping for position.  Christea stuffs another takedown and works for a guillotine.  Another stand-up. . . and another stuffed takedown and guillotine.  Christea is going for chokes and kimuras from the bottom.  They fight to their feet and Christea scores a takedown just before the end of the match.

Judges give the match to Mikhail Malutin by majority decision.  Very close, though.

Team Russia Red Devil is up, 1-0.

Welterweight Division:  Romano de los Reyes (Team Holland) vs. Erik Oganov (Team Russia Red Devil)

De los Reyes and Oganov also have even records between them, both going 2-2 in M-1 Challenge action.

Round Three (joined in progress):  Jimmy Smith’s recap indicates Oganov has won both rounds.  He’s continues the dominance with a takedown off a penetrating combination.  Reposition in the corner.  Referee Noguchi stands both fighters up and issues mutual stalling warnings.  Another reposition to the center.  Oganov is dominating with ground-and-pound from side mount until the bell.

Judges award Erik Oganov the match by majority decision.  It really should have been unanimous.

Team Russia Red Devil pulls ahead, 2-0.  Championship gold is one match ahead.

Middleweight Division:   Jason Jones (Team Holland) vs. Dmitry Samoilov (Team Russia Red Devil)

Jason Jones steps foot in the ring with a 2-2 record in this year’s M-1 Challenge, including one of the fastest TKO wins of the season, a six-second TKO over Daniel Weichel of the World Team / Team Germany.  Samoilov is 3-1 in the M-1 Challenge, going on a three-match win streak after getting caught by a Karl Amoussou head kick in his first match of the season.

Round Three (joined in progress):  Earlier, Samoilov got a yellow card warning for an illegal headbut.  Jones lands some sharp combinations and knees.  Samoilov returns the favor.  Jones with a textbook takedown from afar.  Reposition in the center.  Eventually, they’re stood up.  Jones forces a takedown and gets side mount, punishing the Russian with knees.  He continues the assault with hammerfists to the end of the match.

Jason Jones gets the decision victory, keeping Team Holland in the game, 1-2.

Light Heavyweight Division:  David Haagsma (Team Holland) vs. Mikhail Zayats (Team Russia Red Devil)

It’s good to be David Haagsma, who makes his M-1 Challenge debut tonight in the finals, filling in for Kimil Uygun on an eight hour notice.  Haagsma is a jiu-jitsu blue belt under Remco Pardoel.  Meanwhile, Mikhail Zayats comes in tonight at 4-0, the only Red Devil to have that honor.  In fact, his only loss this year was to Daniel Tabera (Team Spain) in non-M-1 Challenge action.

Round One:  Haagsma has a significant height advantage.  Zayats hands look sharp as he pushes in with combinations.  He stuns Haagsma with a spinning backfist, but Haagsma slows the action down with a clinch.  Zayats gets the takedown with some effort.  He rains down rights from half-guard and spins around to get an armbar and the tapout at 3:21 In the first round.

Team Russia Red Devil secures their third victory of the night and, as such, become the 2008 M-1 Challenge Champions.

Heavyweight Division:  Jessie Gibbs (Team Holland) vs. Alexey Oleinik (Team Russia Red Devil)

Jessie Gibbs another of the small club of 4-0 undefeated M-1 Challenge fighters.  He faces Alexey Oleinik, a fill-in for Kiril “Baby Fedor” Sidelnikov.  To his credit, however, Oleinik is on a seven-fight win streak, with five of those matches coming over two days in October of last year.  Oleinik is a tournament machine, having fought multiple times in one-night tournaments at least nine times in his career, which dates back to 1997.

Round Two (joined in progress):  Despite an Oleinik-branded takedown, Jessie Gibbs was on top for most of the match and likely won the first round 10-9.  Oleinik scores a takedown after catching a Gibbs-sponsored body kick.  Gibbs scraps to his feet.  Both men throw tired, rather unimpressive strikes.  Gibbs towers over Oleinik and throws some knees, opening up Oleinik’s right eye.  But Gibbs gives up his back standing and Oleinik pulls him to the ground with hooks in.  Oleinik transitions to top position and slaps on an Ezekiel choke for the tapout at 3:42 in the second round.

Team Russia Red Devil walk away adding insult to injury to a second place Team Holland.

Best Match**: Mikhail Malutin vs. Bogdan Christea.  Christea was extremely competitive in this match, and stole the third round, but that apparently wasn’t enough for the judges.  I thought Christea won.

Worst Match**: Erik Oganov vs. Romano de los Reyes.  By the third round, Oganov was walking away with this match.

**(based on footage aired)

The 2009 M-1 Challenge season kicks off on Saturday, February 21^st, at the Emerald Queen Casino in Seattle / Tacoma, WA.  Team Challenges include Team USA 1 vs. Brazil, Team France vs. Team South Korea, and Team Finland vs. Team Benelux.  Other new faces this year will include teams from China, England, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Australia / New Zealand.

M-1 Challenge: Team South Korea vs. Team Russia Red Devil

As 2008 winds down, we get closer to the end of this year’s M-1 Challenge round-robin tournament.  Thus far, ten teams have fought between three to four times each, with Team Russia Red Devil (2-1 in team challenges) leading Group A, while Team Holland (2-1 in team challenges) leads Group B.  Tonight, the Red Devils (home to world-famous Fedor Emelianenko) look to secure their first place standing.  Standing in their way is a very determined Team Korea.

With a dominating 11-4 individual fight record, first place is the Red Devil’s to lose.  A team victory of any kind will guarantee first-place standing, although an individual match record of 4-1 or better in this best-of-five meet will firmly secure their place in the M-1 Challenge finals.  Conversely, Team South Korea (1-2 team challenges, 6-9 individual fights) would need a 5-0 clean sweep to have a shot at the finals, and that would also require second-place Team Finland and Team France (both 2-1 team challenges) to drop their respective meets.  The deck is stacked against the Koreans, but we have seen them come back from behind and claim victory.

This meet originally took place on November 21st of this year at the Ice Palace in St.  Petersburg, Russia.  As always, announcers Sean Wheelock and Fight Quest’s Jimmy Smith are on-hand to call the matches.

Lightweight Division: Yui-chul Nam (Team South Korea) vs. Mikhail Malutin (Team Russia Red Devil)

Nam is new to M-1 Challenge, but boasts of an undefeated 8-0 record in Spirit MC, Korea’s top MMA promotion.  Has a wrestling background, but has 5 KO’s to his name.  Mikhail Malutin is one of Team Red Devil’s standouts, going 2-0 in M-1 Challenge action. He won his last match via first round submission.

Round Two (joined in progress):  According to Jimmy Smith, Nam came out in the first round with both guns blazing, which explains the huge knot over the Russian’s right eye.  But that doesn’t deter Malutin, as he gets up off his corner stool and stands in the middle in the ring, ready to pounce.  Serious head games here.  As the bell sounds, Nam swings again, but Malutin dictates the direction and takes Nam into the corner.  Nam works for a takedown and  finally gets it with a combination Hi-C / single-leg.  Nam works hard from the top, passing guard and dropping shoulder strikes.  With a stalemate in action, the referee orders a stand-up.   Nam attempts another takedown, falling into Malutin’s guard as he slips.  Nam’s having a tough time getting out of half-guard.  Another stand-up.  Malutin now scores a takedown.  Nam works rubber guard, but being pushed up so close to the corner, he doesn’t have the space to sink in a gogoplata.  They’re repositioned in the middle of the ring, but Malutin distracts Nam with ground-and-pound until the end of the round.

Judges award Mikhail Malutin the decision victory.  Team Russia Red Devil gets on the board early and takes the 1-0 lead.  Malutin hands Nam his first defeat.

Welterweight Division: Do-hyung Kim (Team South Korea) vs. Erik Oganov (Team Russia Red Devil)

Although their Sherdog records betray it, both Kim and Oganov come into this fight with well over 20 fights each, mostly on local shows of their native countries.  Kim is 1-0 in M-1, beating Farouk Lakebir (Team France) in double-overtime action.  Oganov is undefeated in this year’s M-1 Challenge, but did lose a unanimous decision to Lakebir in 2007.

Round Two (joined in progress):  Kim and Oganov infer mutual respect with their hesitancy to engage.  Finally, Kim charges and rocks Oganov on the jaw.  He gets the full mount and unloads heavy right and then hammerfists on the felled Russian.  Before you know it, Kim takes Oganov’s back, flattens him out, and gets the submission victory at 0:57 in the second round via rear naked choke.  Kim then shows his “heel prowess,” by waving the Korean flag in gloat, giving the crowd a thumbs-down, and even stiff-arming them.  Good luck sleeping with both eyes shut tonight.

Team South Korea ties it up, 1-1.

Middleweight Division:  Mi-seok Heo (Team South Korea) vs. Dmitry Samoilov (Team Russia Red Devil)

Samoilov is 2-0 in M-1 Challenge this year, taking both wins by decision.  Heo is 1-1 in M-1 action, dropping his last match via decision to Karl Amoussou.

Round One (joined in progress):  We’re almost four minutes in and Samoilov is in Heo’s closed guard.  Samoilov is pounding on the body and slips a hard left hand on Heo, who’s trying to nullify the assault.  Samoilov lands another heavy left before the round ends.  Highlights show the Samoilov takedown that led to this ground-and-pound party.

Round Two:  Heo with a hard left kick, that Samoilov catches, but Heo prevents the single-leg takedown with stiff shots.  Samoilov finally gets a trip takedown off a clinch against the ropes, falling perfectly into side mount.  He goes on to pound hard shots to the body, even slipping some rights to the face.  Heo gets to his feet, but Samoilov sinks in a guillotine, taking the Korean down again.  More Russian hammerfists to the body.  Heo turtles up.  Samoilov has a waistlock on Heo and is firing shots to the face from behind.  The referee, sensing danger for Heo, stops the match at 2:28, giving Samoilov the TKO victory.

Heo unsuccessfully tries to protest the stoppage, but inevitably shows good sportsmanship and congratulates Samoilov, who is now 3-0 in M-1 Challenge.

Team Russia Red Devil takes the lead again, 2-1.

Light Heavyweight Division: Seung-Bae Whi (Team South Korea) vs. Mikhail Zayats (Team Russia Red Devil)

Both fighters are small for light heavyweights, with Zayats at 196 and Whi at 201.  Zayats (7-1 overall) is undefeated in this year’s M-1 Challenge, while Whi (6-1 overall) makes his M-1 debut).  Zayats’ lone loss is to Daniel Tavera, whom Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith put over practically as the second coming of Couture.

Round One:  Zayats is feisty and jumpy, while Whi paces himself.  Suddenly, the fireworks go off.  Zayats rocks Whi with a right hand, following it up with a front headlock in the corner.  Whi takes Zayats down, who works to finish from beneath with a guillotine. Whi escapes and fires the ground-and-pound artillery.  Zayats retaliates with heavy shots of his own.  He traps Whi’s hands and is able to slow the action down enough to get a referee stand-up.  On their feet again, Zayats works for a bodylock takedown, but to no avail.  He tags Whi with a left-right combo to the face, but Whi responds with a right that drops the Russian.  Zayats goes for a takedown, and they trade some more leather before the bell rings.  This is a barnburner.

Round Two:  The two fighters are hesitant at first to reengage, but before you know it, they’re at it again.  Zayats charges with combos and rocks Whi, who ties up in the corner with underhooks.  They break away and trade lefts and rights at a furious pace before Zayats opts for a takedown, proceeding to ground-and-pound in full guard.  The crowd loves this.  The referee restarts them in the middle.  Whi creates distance by pushing Zayats to his feet by arching his back.  Zayats still slips some shots to the body and even tries to spin Whi over for a half-Boston Crab before the bell rings.  Peace to Sean Wheelock for an unashamed (and spot-on accurate) pro wrestling reference.

Judges give Zayats the split decision, but Whi has made a memorable M-1 debut.

Team Russia Red Devil secures the team challenge, 3-1.  Another win will cement them in the finals.

Heavyweight Division: Jong-Whang Kim (Team South Korea) vs. Kiril Sidelnikov (Team Russia Red Devil)

At 34 years old and 267 pounds, Kim (6-3) is 14 years older and 33 pounds heavier than Sidelnikov.  According to Sean Wheelock, this is roughly on par for the man-boy they call “Baby Fedor,” whose opponents have averaged 29 pounds more than the Russian heavyweight.

Round One:  Kim looks very apprehensive to engage.  Before I can even finish that sentence, at 9 seconds of the match, Kim’s corner throws the towel in and the match is called.

I literally have to play the match in slow-motion to see the action.  Kim goes for a single-leg takedown, which Sidelnikov stuffs, firing rights to Kim’s head.  The replay from an overhead angle reveals that Kim’s cornerman had the towel in position to throw as soon as Sidelnikov made punching contact.  Kim rolls to his back and Sidelnikov lands a few more punches before the referee is able to stop the action.

Wheelock and Smith rage over the false-start, justifiably so.  Kim is holding his neck, possibly a pre-existing injury.  If that’s the case and there was no other Korean heavyweight to substitute, I would guess that the plan was to go through the motions of giving the Russian fans a Sidelnikov victory in the ring rather than announce a forfeit.  Certainly not a work, but perhaps a waste of time.

Suffice to say Team Russia Red Devil wins the team challenge 4-1.

Best Match**: Zayats vs. Whi.  First round is a slobberknocker slugfest on the feet and on the ground.  Second round consisted of more ground and pound, but both guys worked their asses off.

Worst Match**: Sidelnikov vs. Kim.  Smith and Wheelock mention Coleman vs. Fujita or Max Schmeling vs. Joe Louis regarding controversial towel-throws.  The best line Sean Wheelock said it best with his line “is that a joke? The towel was thrown in! . . . The Towel came in before the first punch.”  Nuff said.

**(based on footage aired)

Next week, the Red Devil’s Group B counterpart, Team Russia Legion, face Team Holland.  And for those of you in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, don’t forget that the last M-1 Challenge of the year takes place on December 26^th at the Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino, just outside of Tacoma, WA.  Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.

M-1 Challenge: Team Russia Red Devil vs. Team USA

For the first time this season, HD-Net resident correspondent Ron Kruck (who should be given all of Kenny Rice’s MMA broadcast assignments) opens up the show with a recap of the past two rounds of action – which HD-Net hasn’t aired.

This is the second time that the series has jumped sequence.  In the previous instance, one explanation given was that technical compatibility problems between the recorded footage and HD-Net’s broadcast standards prevented certain episodes from airing.  Because M-1 Challenge takes place in different countries, different production teams are used, and subsequently, some teams’ equipment does not record with the same quality as that which HD-Net broadcasts.

Strangely enough, Kruck narrates over highlight footage of the two recent missing meets, Team Korea vs. Team USA and Team Japan vs. Team Germany / World Team, which would indicate that compatibility problems weren’t the issue here.  These meets took place on August 29^th of this year in Seoul, Korea.

Regardless, tonight’s M-1 Challenge looks to be an homage to the great icons of the Cold War:  Reagan, Gorbachev, Balboa, Drago, Duggan, Rhodes, Magnum T.A., and the Koloffs, as Team USA faces Team Russia Red Devil.

As always, announcers Sean Wheelock and Fight Quest’s Jimmy Smith are on-hand to call the matches.  This meet originally took place on September 27th of this year at the Harvey Hadden Sports Centre in Nottingham, England.

Lightweight Division:   Mikhail Malutin (Team Russia Red Devil) vs. Beau King (Team USA)

Beau King and Mikhail Malutin are even across the board, at 27 years old and both weighing in at 153 lbs.  The only small discrepancy is with King’s 2-3 record, built up on local shows in Southern California, while Malutin comes in at 27-8.  Wait, what did I just write?

Round One:  Despite this disgusting experience difference, King is undeterred, as he sets the pace with a jab-spinning backfist-kick combination.  Malutin takes King down and works from the guard.  King is calm, keeping Malutin tied up with underhooks and working intently for a gogoplata.  Malutin counters with body shots, scrambles around to sink his hooks in, and works a body triangle from the side.  King gets on top and eventually passes to side control.  They scramble to their feet, only to end up in north-south position after Malutin rocks King with a combination.  Malutin spins to King’s back and takes control, hooks and everything.  King struggles to escape, but Malutin sinks in the rear naked choke, flattens King to his stomach, and gets the tapout just as the bell signals the end of the round.

Malutin is awarded the victory and Team Russia Red Devil opens up with a 1-0 lead.

Cameo of the night goes to Ian “The Machine” Freeman, reigning Cage Rage British Light Heavyweight champion, who is doing the ring announcing for the night.  And guest star of the night is Affliction, which is all over the mat and the referee with sponsorship signage.

Welterweight Division:   Erik Oganov (Team Russia Red Devil) vs. Brandon Magana (Team USA)

Magana is a former U.S. Marine who, after fighting sporadically since 2005, has gone into overdrive in 2008.  This is his fourth match of the year, with the third match being just one week before, at the “Strikeforce: Playboy Mansion II” event.  The last time we saw Oganov, who, like his teammate, also claims well over 20 matches, he ended Janne Tulirinta’s (Team Finland) three-match win streak.

Round Two (joined in progress):  Color commentator Jimmy Smith sets the stage by scoring round one as 10-9 for Oganov.  Magana and Oganov trade strikes cautiously.  Oganov hits a hard liver kick and scores a single-leg takedown.  Magana keeps Oganov clinched tight on the ground, using rubber guard to get in position for a triangle.  Oganov is nonplussed.  The two end up standing in the corner before the referee restarts them in the middle of the ring.  Magana charges Oganov into the corner, where the rest of the match takes place.  Magana works for the double-leg, while Oganov mutes him with a guillotine choke.  The second round ends with the bell and Erik Oganov takes the match by unspectacular majority (split) decision.

Team Russia Red Devil pulls ahead in the meet, 2-0.

Middleweight Division:   Dmitry Samoilov (Team Russia Red Devil) vs. Bryan Harper (Team USA)

Bryan Harper is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who was previously knocked out by Min-soo Na of Team Korea in the first round.  Samoilov, a sambo expert, previously won a majority decision against Nikolas Weinberg of Team Finland.

Round Two (joined in progress):  Harper pushes Samoilov back with a double jab and clinch, but Samoilov uses the corner to his benefit, working a kimura lock.  Samoilov tries a trip to the ground which Harper almost counters by balancing on Samoilov’s back, but they scramble to escape bottom position and end up on their feet.  A few more exchanges.  Harper pushes Samoilov back into the corner again and throws a high knee.  Samoilov counters with punches, taking control of the pace of the match.  Harper is now evading engagement, fading back and keeping distance with combinations. The match was Harper’s to lose, and as it transforms into a boxing match, Harper does so.

Dmitry Samoilov takes the match by majority decision as Team Russia Red Devil claims the MMA Cold War with a 3-0 split.

Light Heavyweight Division:  Mikhail Zayats (Team Russia Red Devil) vs. John Cornett (Team USA)

John Cornett is a Jiu-Jitsu expert from the Midwest.  He’s cornered by Team Quest coach Heath Sims and former King of the Cage light heavyweight champion James Lee.  Zayats goes into this match with a 5-1 record, whose last win was a controversial decision against Lucio Linhares (Team Finland).

Round One:  Cornett loves to bang and wastes no time in throwing some big right bombs.  Zayats takes Cornett down with a single leg.  There’s not a lot of action, which results in a restart in the center.  Zayats is trying to ground-and-pound on Cornett, who minimizes the damage with a tight guard.  These two keep working themselves into the corner and under the ropes, as Zayats G & P’s Cornett, who shrimp-crawls his way to the ropes.  Cornett would not do well in Ring of Honor with the rope breaks.  Finally, the ref restarts them standing.  Zayats moves to shoot in, but stops short just as Cornett counters with an overhand right that misses.  Zayats pushes Cornett into the corner with some wild haymakers, then himself gets spun into the ropes.  Zayats gets a verbal warning, perhaps for knees in the groinal neighborhood.  By now, he’s really intent on getting the overhand right one-punch KO.  Cornett, the reputed striker of this match, is now cautious about engaging.  Zayats may have gotten in Cornett’s head with that last flurry.

Round Two:  Right from jump street, these two are swinging for the fences.  Zayats drops Cornett and tries to finish with hammerfists, but the American escapes to his feet.  Only to be taken down again with a double-leg.  They almost fly out of the ring under the blue corner.  Getting back up, Cornett looks to the referee and verbally submits 44 seconds into the second round.  Announcer Sean Wheelock reports that Cornett broke his right hand and has to concede the match.

Team Russia Red Devil adds insult to injury with a fourth victory of the night.

Heavyweight Division:   Kiril Sidelnikov (Team Russia Red Devil) vs. James Jack (Team USA)

James Jack, a former collegiate All-American in wrestling and football, is wasting no time building up his MMA record.  All six of his career matches (3-2-1) have occurred this year.  In his last outing, he lost by submission to Malick N’diaye by submission.

Conversely, Sidelnikov’s nickname is “Baby Fedor.”  Nuff said.

Round One:  Jack comes in with a 30-pound weight advantage over Sidelnikov.  Jack is also wearing wrestling shoes, which automatically prohibits him from throwing head kicks, even standing.  Talk about giving your opponent the handicap.  Sidelnikov has an interesting side stance that reminds me of Lyoto Machida.  Jack shoots for the takedown and gets it in the corner.  Jack tries to keep Sidelnikov down with his weight but Sidelnikov walks his back up the corner padding and is able to outpower the larger American.  He lands a solid right hand which rocks Jack, but not to the point of going to his knees.  Perhaps this is just a delayed reaction, because Jack immediately shoots for a single-leg.  He hangs on to buy time, but Sidelnikov pounds away until the referee jumps in and stops the fight at 4:20 of the first round.

In one night, Team Russia Red Devil singlehandedly erases all the patriotic work that Sylvester Stallone did against the evil Russians in Rocky IV, Rambo II, and Rambo III.  Somewhere in Colorado, the Eckhert brothers are rolling over in their graves, while Danny and Erica carve out Team USA’s names on Partisan Rock.

Best Match**: John Cornett vs. Mikhail Zayats.  There were some wicked slugfest exchanges in this second round, and with the action spilling out of the ring several times, these two delivered great fireworks.  Unfortunately, Cornett’s hand injury was an anticlimactic finish, but until that point, it was the best action of the night.

Worst Match**: Erik Oganov vs. .Brandon Magana.  Very lackluster finish here, as Oganov just rode the last minute to the end of the round with guillotine choke in the corner.

** (based on footage aired)

With their individual fight sweep, Team Russia Red Devil takes the lead with a 2-1 team challenge record and a definitive 11-4 record over Team Finland, which has a 9-6 record from the same number of meets.  Team USA is condemned to fourth place, with a 1-3 team challenge record and a 6-14 individual fight record that is going to be difficult to turn around.

Next week, Team Russia Legion looks to redeem themselves against Team Germany / World Team.

M-1 Challenge TV Report: Team Finland vs. Team Russia Red Devil

This week’s episode of M-1 Challenge opens with a surprise discovery.  For whatever reason, HD-Net seems to be playing the series’ episodes out of order.

Last week, we reported on episode four, Team Japan vs. Team Russia Legion, with Team USA scheduled to make their M-1 Challenge debut this week against Team Spain.  However, this week’s episode appears to feature Team Finland vs. Team Red Devil.  To take the punchline even further, the summary info on the DVR setting reads “Spain vs. Russia Legion in mixed-martial-arts action.”

This kind of continuity confusion is something I’d expect more from a Vince Russo storyline, and as such, I make a note on my To-Do list to schedule a conference call with Mark Cuban and Vadim Finkelstein to get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime, we go to Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith for tonight’s event.  Originally taking place on June 27^th of this year in St. Petersburg, Russia, Finland (Group A, 2-0 team record) sets out to claim its third team victory.  Standing in their way of that goal is Fedor Emelianenko’s Team Red Devil (Group A, 0-1 team record).

Finland sets out to take its third straight team win vs. Team Red Devil

Lightweight Division:  Niko Puhakka (Team Finland) vs. Mikhail Malutin (Team Red Devil)

Both Puhakka and Malutin enter with at least 20 matches, according to the tale of the tape, although Sherdog lists Malutin with significantly fewer victories.  Puhakka is pretty serious about his tattoos, with near-full sleeve artwork covering both arms and large pieces on his chest, shoulderblade, neck, and right temple.

Round One:  Lots of feeling out between fighters in the first minute.  Puhakka stuns Malutin with a right cross.  They engage along the ropes until Puhakka goes for a guillotine that turns quickly into an anaconda choke.  He spins around for a rear naked choke with accompanying body triangle.  Puhakka keeps Malutin’s back well, flattening him out several times and transitioning back into a body triangle every time Malutin curls up.  Malutin escapes and takes top positon, but Puhakka does a good job of minimizing Malutin’s offense.  End of round one.  Puhakka  wins for ring control and several submission attempts.

Round Two:  More feeling out.  Malutin charges in, but Puhakka gets the takedown.  Malutin reverses and gets the mount, but they fall into the ropes.  Restart in the center of the ring.  Puhakka gives up his back to Malutin, who seizes the opportunity, takes the back with hooks in, and stays on.  Puhakka rolls over several times, but Malutin stays on him.  It’s like the previous round, but in opposite positions.  Malutin finally wears Puhakka down and sinks in the RNC at 3:32 in the second round.

Team Red Devils are on the board 1-0.

Welterweight Division:  Janne Tulirinta (Team Finland) vs. Erik Oganov (Team Red Devil)

Tulirenta and Oganov both weigh in at 167 lbs.  Tulirenta is one year younger (and significantly taller), but Oganov is the professional senior by 23 matches.  Again, Sherdog would beg to differ the Russian’s record.

Round One:  The two trade kicks and punches cautiously.  Oganov engages Tulirinta and gets the takedown.  Toularenta prevents Oganov from getting side mount and sweeps the Russian for top control.  The two trade submission attempts, falling into the ropes before referee Daisuke Noguchi restarts them in the center.  Oganov is nullifying Tulirinta’s offense with a tight clinch on bottom, but he offers little else action.

Oganov gests the escape and both get to their feet.  Oganov picks Tulirinta and attempts a high slam that ends up resembling a front fisherman suplex.  He ends up falling with the Finn, but isn’t in position to follow through and capitalize.  Oganov throws Tulirinta, this time with a sambo throw, in the waning seconds of the match.  Fight Quest’s Jimmy Smith gives Oganov the round.
Round Two:  Oganov comes out much more confident.  Tulirinta is not engaging as strongly.  Oganov stuns him with a series of body shots and liver punches that drops Tulirinta.  Referee Noguchi jumps in and stops the match at 0:56 in the second round, putting an end to Tulirenta’s undefeated win streak.

Team Red Devils are up 2-0.  This event is being held on the deck of a large luxury ship, which leads me to wonder how much the rocking off the ship affects a fighter’s stand-up.

Middleweight Division:  Niklas Winberg (Team Finland) vs. Dmitry Samoilov (Team Red Devil)

Samoilov went 0-1-1 in BodogFIGHT, but otherwise is a regular M-1 fighter.  Winberg’s previous two matches were in 2000 and 2001, respectively.  Both were losses.  Talk about a Quixotic comeback.

Round Two (match joined in progress):  Winberg and Samoliv come out banging.  Samoilov locks horns and sweeps Winberg to the ground.  He maintains control of Winberg by keeping knees on him and dropping punches.  Samoilov keeps this strategy while Winberg struggles to create distance with a butterfly guard and pushing off Samoilov.  Winberg almost gets to his feet, but Semilov gets his back and works for a choke.  Winberg struggles to escape as the match ends.  Judges all give the match to Samilov,.  Announcer Sean Wheelock and Fight Quest’s Jimmy Smith note that Winberg took the match on short notice.

Team Red Devils sweep the meet, 3-0 and secure team victory.

Light Heavyweight Division:  Lucio Linhares (Team Finland) vs. Mikhail Zayats (Team Red Devil)

Linhares normally fights at middleweight, but wanders his way into the light heavyweight neighborhood for this match.  Zayats is 4-1 going into this match, all under the M-1 banner.

Round Two (match joined in progress):  Zayats gets the takedown off a right cross.  Linhares works for a combination kneebar-ankle lock immediately, and almost gets it, but Zayats is able to escape.  Zayats gets top position; but.Linhaeres, a jiu-jitsu expert, continues to work for leglocks.  Zayats escapes and spins around for a guillotine choke.  Good ground work.  Linhares rotates around into side mount, then full mount before Zayats once again transitions into Linhares’ closed guard.  Zayats stands up and spins out, but falls back into guard when he goes back to attack.  Zayats isn’t able to get position for a ground and pound attack.  Linhares restarts his campaign for a heel hook or leglock, but Zayats is saved by the bell.

Linhares believes he’s won round two, which would result in a third tie-breaking round.  Zayats apparently won round one decisively, and the judges believe that he had enough top control to win round two as well.  Linhares and Fight Quest’s Jimmy Smith don’t agree, but that is how it will read in the record books.

Team Red Devils add a fourth shake of salt on the proverbial wound, 4-0.

Heavyweight Division:  Jarmo Nurminen (Team Finland) vs. Kiril Sidelnikov (Team Red Devil)

Record-wise, these two are evenly matched.

Round Two (match joined in progress):  Sidelnikov is wily, jumping around and using frantic footwork.  Nurminen shoots for the takedown, but Sidelnikov stuffs the shot and follows through with a flurry of punches.  Nurminen gets the full mount and transitions to a rear naked choke, but Sidelnikov escapes.  Nurminen hangs on for the double-leg takedown and drives the big Russian into the ropes, almost bowling over a cameraman standing on the apron.  Thankfully, the hard camera was in position to catch the near fall (pun intended).  Restart in the middle of the ring.  Sidelnikov transitions into Nurminen’s open guard and eventually works to an attempted armbar.  Both heavyweights are visibly exhausted, but they scramble for position on the ground until finally working their way to their feet.  Sidelnikov takes control with a sambo waist clinch.  Cue the triple German suplex spot now.  Instead, Nurminen escapes and goes for a double-leg takedown.  Sidelnikov mars the spot by liberally grabbing the ropes on the way down, but Nurminen uses his weight to bull his opponent down.  He would have been docked points if this had been anywhere but Russia.  Finally, the bell ends the round.

In a close call, Jarno Nurminen claims the match and a team moral victory.  With an unblemished 3-0 record and ironic resemblance, Jarno Nurminen inadvertently becomes M-1’s budding Ben Rothwell.

Best Match**: Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats (despite a controversial decision)

Worst Match**: Niklas Winberg vs. Dmitry Samoilov

**(based on footage aired)

Team Red Devil’s performance tonight moves them from third to second place in Group A, right behind Team Finland, who still maintain the group lead by 1 team victory and a 9-6 individual fight record.  In Group B, Team Holland sits atop with a 1-1 team record and 7-3 individual fight record.  Tied for second place are Team Japan and Team Spain, both of whom have 1-0 team records and 3-2 individual fight records.

Next week, Team Spain vs. Team Russia Legion, with upper-level Group B ranking at stake.  If they can secure a victory over the Russians, Team Spain will solidify their second place standing.  For Team Russia Legion, however, victory will pull them from fourth into third place.

Unless, of course, I’m unable to get Cuban and Finkelstein on the phone together to work out the programming kinks.