Vinny Magalhaes to Face Viktor Nemkov for M-1 LHW Belt

Tuesday, April 5, 2011


By FCF Staff

Last week former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor Vinny Magalhaes informed FCF that he would likely fight for the vacant M-1 Global light-heavyweight at the promotion’s upcoming April 28th event in St. Petersburg, Russia. Today M-1 Global confirmed that the accomplished BJJ competitor will face Russian veteran Viktor Nemkov to determine the organization’s light-heavyweight champion. (Pictured: Magalhaes punching Jake Doerr)

“We’ve been impressed with how Magalhaes and Nemkov have been performing in their last outings. This has been a fight we’ve been looking to put together for a while and with both fighters healthy and on solid winning streaks, this matchup made sense to make happen sooner than later,” said Evgeni Kogan, Director of Operations for M-1 Global. “Both men have been vocal about wanting a title shot and now they will meet to determine our light heavyweight champ.”

Magalhaes (7-5) has won three in a row and is coming off a first round, TKO stoppage of Jake Doerr at M-1 Challenge 24 on March 25th.

Nemkov (10-2) will also head into the April 28th bout having won three straight; in January he worked his way to a unanimous decision win over Vitaly Smirnov at a Mix Fight Tournament event.

M-1 Challenge 25 will be streamed live on the official M-1 Global website. Here is the line-up to date for the event.

M-1 Challenge XXV Under Card:
Alexander Kosarev (1-2) vs. Denis Goltsov (2-1)             

M-1 Challenge XXV Main Card (Streaming Live):
Christian Eckerlin (6-0) vs. Alexander Yakovlev (10-3)          
Alihan Magomedov (12-2) vs. TBA 
Murad Magomedov (6-6) vs. Dmitry Samoilov (11-5-1)    
Arsen Abdulkerimov (7-2) vs. Alexander Volkov (10-3)           
Andrei Semenov (29-9-2)    vs. Luigi Fioravanti (22-8)                 
Additional bouts to be announced shortly

Welterweight Championship Bout:
Shamil Zavurov, M-1 Challenge Champion (19-1) vs. Rashid Magomedov (8-1)

Light Heavyweight Championship Bout:
Viktor Nemkov (10-2) vs. Vinny Magalhaes (7-5)