Gafurov retains M-1 featherweight title Wins decision over American Lee Morrison ‘M-1 Challenge 47’ Results

ORENBURG, (April 4, 2014) — M-1 Challenge Featherweight Champion Marat Gafurov (9-0-0) retained his title and remained undefeated, winning a five-round decision over invading American challenger Lee “American Bulldog” Morrison (13-4-0) in tonight’s M-1 Challenge 47 main event at Orenburgzhye Sport Hall in Orenburg, Russia.

Living legend and future of Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. was a special guest.

This marked the second successful title defense for Gafurov, a jiu-jitsu specialist from Russia, who originally captured the crown in 2013.

In a much anticipated rematch, Frenchman Shaban Ka (7-3-1) stopped Americanfighting icon Jeff “The Snowman” Monson (49-17-1) in the opening round. The two had previously fought to a draw in 2011.

Undefeated Polish heavyweight Marcin “Tybur” Tybura (10-0-0) recorded a win by third round technical , maintaining his No. 1 contender position, over Croatian Maro “Gladiator” Perak (23-4-1).

Slovanian lightweight Ivan “Buki” Buchinger (26-4-0) gained revenge against Russian veteran Sergey Golyaev (23-11-0), choking his tough opponent into a first-round submission Buchinger has won 14 of his last 17 fights but Golyaev needed only 21 seconds in their first match to become the first to knockout Buchinger.

Welterweight Julien “J-Smoove” Williams (5-1-0) was the only American fighter to register a victory at M-1 Challenge 47 with the first knockout of his professional career in his M-1 Global debut coming in the first round against previously unbeaten Russian Rasul Abdulaev (3-1-0).

Polish lightweight prospect Kamil Maron (5-1-0) took a three- round unanimous decision from Russian Georgy Fursov (2-2-0, 1 KO/TKO), Brazilian light heavyweight Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda (12-1-0) ruined Ukrainian National MMA champion Vasily Babich’s (7-1-0) perfect pro record by way of an opening round , and Said Maadziev (1-1-0) won his first pro fight against Murad Mirzabekov (1-1-0) in a battle of Russian featherweights.

Full results:

(Winners listed first each fight)

M-1 CHALLENGE FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MARAT GAFUROV (9-0-0, 1 KO/TKO, 5 SUB), Champion, Dagestan, Russia WDEC5 LEE MORRISON (13-4-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), Challenger, Okanogan, Washington, USA (Gufaurov retains M-1 Challenge featherweight title)

HEAVYWEIGHTS CHABAN KA (7-3-1, 1 KO/TKO, 5 SUB), Villeneuve-d’ Ascq, WTKO1 JEFF MONSON (49-18-1, 3 KO/TKO, 29 SUB), , Florida, USA

Marcin TYBURA (10-0-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), Lodz, Poland WKO/TKO3 MARIO PEREK (23-34-1, 12 KO/TKO, 7 SUB), Dubrovnik, Croatia LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS LUIS FERNANDO MIRANDA (12-0-1, 4 KO/TKO), 7 SUB), Rio Grande, Rio Grande Do Sol, WSUB1 (Guillotine Choke) VASILY BABICH (9-3-0, 3 KO/TKO, 5 SUB), Yeupatoria, Ukraine

WELTERWEIGHTS JULIEN WILLIAMS (5-1-0, 1 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), Orlando, Florida, USA WKO2 RASUL ABDULAEV (3-1-0, 1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB), Kolpino, Russia

ALEXEI KUNCHENKO (3-0-0, 1 KO/TKO, 2 SUB), Tyumen, Russia WSUB3 (Verbal) ANATOLY SAFRONEV (19-21-0, 3 KO/TKO, 8 SUB), , Ukraine

LIGHTWEIGHTS IVAN BUCHINGER (26-4-0, 6 KO/TKO, 16 SUB), Gabcikovo, Slovania WSUB1 () SERGEY GOLYAEV (23-11-0, 6 KO/TKO, 12 SUB), St. Petersburg, Russia

FEATHERWEIGHTS KAMIL MARON (5-1-0, 0 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), Tarnov, Poland WDEC3 GEORGY FUROV (2-2-0, 1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB), Orenburg, Russia

SAID MAADZIEV (1-1-0, 1 SUB)), St. Petersburg, Russia WSUB1 (Arm Bar) MURAD MIRZABEKOV (1-1-0, 0 KO/TKO, 0 SUB), Orenburg, Russia

ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1998, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, and , the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the . Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including , , Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fuelled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global’s greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.