(PRESS RELEASE) -- If you’re a heavyweight fighter in Europe and you know the name Guram Gugenishvili, you’ve probably been put to sleep; with the way he’s been putting his opponents out on the canvass, he may as well become a licensed anaesthesiologist. Come March 5th when he steps into the ring to defend his heavyweight title against Eastern Europe’s 2010 M-1 Selection tournament winner, Maxim Grishin, fans should expect the seemingly emotionless giant to deliver an utterly dominant performance.
No one has been able to expose holes in his abilities to date. All but one of his victories have ended early in the first round and six of these come by way of suffocating, anaconda-like rear naked chokes. Simply put: Gugenishvili, and his team at Makfight, are proving to be top prospects in MMA and the global fan base has no choice other than to take notice.
In capturing the M-1 Selection Championship, Gugenishvili demolished Jur Dekker, Valery Scherbakov and Alexander Romaschenko and is now standing on the next steps of his professional career where the level and calibre of competition gets tougher.
In the headline bout at M-1 Challenge XXI, American Top Team heavyweight, Kenny ‘Deuce’ Garner became the latest victim to fall prey to the Georgian powerhouse, after being choked unconscious with a standing guillotine that earned Submission of the Night honours. With Guram delivering a solid performance, he now proudly wears the gold around his waist and is set to collide with Grishin in the marquee battle at M-1 Challenge XXIII.
The pair were originally set to meet at XXI however a training injury forced Grishin to withdraw. Now healed up and ready for action, Grishin, the definitive underdog, is destined to square off against Guram in hopes of dethroning the current champ.
Fans can catch the action from the Crocus City arena in Moscow, Russia on Saturday, March 5th by tuning in to the official live stream on M-1 Global website, www.M-1Global.com at 11:00am EST / 8:00am PST.