On Saturday, Feb. 18, M-1 Global returned to St. Petersburg, Russia for M-1 Challenge 74: Yusupov vs. Puetz.
In the evening’s main event, current M-1 light heavyweight champion Rashid Yusupov fought former M-1 champion Stephan “T-800” Puetz. Yusupov had won five consecutive fights under the M-1 banner, with his most recent being his title fight victory over Viktor Nemkov. Puetz had won two straight since dropping his belt to Nemkov by majority decision.
In the evening’s co-main event, M-1 lightweight champion Alexander Butenko met former Octagon Fighting Sensation middleweight champion Abukar Yandiev. Butenko was unbeaten in his past seven with victories over veterans Artiom Damkovsky and Heydar Mamedaliyev. Yandiev had finished all eight of his wins inside the first three minutes of the first round. Yandiev’s average fight time is just 69 seconds.
The event aired live at 10 a.m. ET on M-1 Global TV and MatchTV (Russia).
Abukar Yandiev def. Alexander Butenko by TKO (ground and pound). Round – for lightweight title
Vitaliy Branchuk def. Moktar Benkaci by decision
Damir Ismagulov def. Morgan Heraud by TKO (ground and pound). Round 3
Artem Damkovsky def. Erivan Pereira by decision
Marcus Vinicius Lopes def. Evgeni Myakinkin by unanimous decision
Pablo Ortmann def. Vyacheslav Bogomol by submission (triangle choke). Round 1
Dmitry Tebekin def. Artur Tyulparov by submission (guillotine choke). Round 1
Bruce Souto def. Payzula Magomedov by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 3
Dmitry Orlov def. Mikhail Kuznetsov by submission (triangle choke). Round 2
Vadim Malygin def. Denes Carvalho by knockout (right hook). Round 3