By FCF Staff
M-1 Global has confirmed that Kenny Garner (pictured) will soon be returning to Russia, as the promotion has announced that the American heavyweight will face the nation’s Alexander Volkov, March 5th. The bout will be part of M-1 Challenge XXIII, which will be hosted by Moscow’s Crocus City Arena.
“Kenny was asking for a shot to come back to Russia even before he left St. Petersburg after his loss to Guram in October,” Evgeni Kogan, Director of Operations for M-1 Global was quoted saying in the press release. “Kenny brings relentless ‘heart’ in to all his fights and losing the title fight in the fashion he did left him upset and hungry to get back on track. Not only does the fight against Volkov make sense based on both fighters’ contention position, it makes a great fight stylistically.”
Garner (5-3) headed to St. Petersburg in October to fight Guram Gugenishvili for the M-1 heavyweight belt, but was submitted by the Ukrainian fighter in the second round. The loss ended Garner’s three fight win streak which included winning the M-1 Americas tournament last year.
Volkov last competed on December 10th at M-1 Challenge 22 and fought to a draw with Pat Bennett. Prior to the bout the Red Devil fighter had won back-to-back fights versus Evgeni Babich and Eldar Yagudin.
The March 5th event will see the aforementioned Gugenishvili take on Eastern Europe champ Maxim Grishin in the main event.
The card will be streamed live on the official M-1 Global site.
