Bourgas, Bulgaria – Final preparations have been made for the second stop of the “M-1 Challenge Presented by Affliction” 2009 season, set to take place Saturday, March 28 at 7 p.m. ET local time at the Mladhost Sports Hall in the resort town of Bourgas.
The event, which will be steamed live at www.Mixfight.ru (note: the stream will not be available to U.S. residents) will feature a total of 30 fighters from six teams going head-to-head in a 15-bout show.
The show’s main event will feature home team Bulgaria attempting to defend its turf in a best-of-five series against Team USA East.
Leading Bulgaria is its talented middleweight, former Bulgarian national wrestler Jordan Radev. Radev formerly fought in the UFC and is 7-0 since departing the organization in 2007.
Easily Bulgaria’s most recognized fighter, Radev is looking forward to representing his home country and to also display how much he has improved since exiting the UFC.
“There were a lot of great fighters (in the UFC) who were good at everything as opposed to just one thing,” Radev began to explain. “I’ve focused on becoming a more versatile fighter because I want to get back to that level.”
Radev is promising a strong performance for the live audience that will be attending the event to show support to their nation’s hero.
“I feel better and more comfortable when I compete in Bulgaria,” he said. “I am very happy that M-1 is giving me this opportunity to perform in front of so many of my countrymen. I will not only be fighting for my teammates, but also my country. This will be a lot different than my previous fights.”
In addition to believing in his improved skills, Radev also expressed confidence in his teammates.
“The U.S. has assembled a good team. However, if we fight to the best of our ability, I believe we will win.”
Standing in Radev’s way will be Herbert “Whisper” Goodman, a former NFL running back who played for the Green Bay Packers from 2000-2002.
In addition to Goodman, Team USA East will also feature rising welterweight prospect Steve Carl, 10-1. For Carl, representing America on foreign soil is nothing new. A former sergeant in the U.S. Army, Carl has been deployed to regions such at South Korea, Kuwait, and Iraq.
“I feel good but am a little nervous to be representing my country,” he said. “But I am simply going to go out and do what I train to do… (Representing the U.S.) means a lot just to be able to know (that M-1) believes you’re good enough to represent your own country.”
He’ll have his work cut out for him against Bulgaria’s Ivan Ivanoff. Ivanoff is 7-0 and has finished all of his opponents inside the distance. But Carl understands that all of the Team U.S.A. East team’s fights on Saturday will be close.
“I think it’s the two best teams in the M-1 Challenge going head-to-head,” he proclaimed. “All the fights could be close and I think we’re going to see some really good matchups.”
In addition to Bulgaria vs. Team USA East, Turkey will face the revamped German team while Russia Legion will face the World Team. The World Team is coached by a name that is no stranger to mixed martial arts fans around the world, current DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi.
Mousasi believes he has put together a team that is ready to contend for the 2009 M-1 Challenge Cup.
“I feel very good about this team,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to train with all of them but I know their reputations well. (Our assistant coaches) have worked hard to get them ready and I can’t wait to see the results in the ring.”
One fighter that Mousasi has worked extensively with is light heavyweight Nills Van Noord. He believes that Van Noord could be one of the team’s standouts and noted significant improvement in recent training by the slick submission specialist.
Mousasi also responded to reports that he could be fighting UFC and Affliction veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou on May 25 at DREAM.9. While the matchup has not been finalized, he did confirm that an official announcement from the promotion could be imminent.
Below is the complete 15-bout lineup for Saturday’s event, including official weights and records.
Turkey vs. Germany -
1. Lightweight: Akin Duran (10-3-1/69.6 kg/153.78 lbs.) vs. Franco de Leonardis (11-3/69.2 kg/152.24 lbs.)
2. Welterweight: Faith Dogan (7-3-1/74.2 kg/163.24 lbs.) vs. Daniel Weicehl (18-6/75.9 kg/166.98 lbs.)
3. Middleweight: Ahmed Bayrak (12-3/83.4 kg/183.48 lbs.) vs. Gregor Herb (83.3 kg/183.26 lbs.)
4. Light Heavyweight: Samy Turky (4-2/91.9 kg/202.18 lbs.) vs. Martin Zawada (19-8/92.7 kg/203.94 lbs.)
5. Heavyweight: Tugrul Okay (6-0/101.3 kg/222.86 lbs.) vs. David Baziak (8-0/96.2 kg/211.64 lbs.)
Russia Legion vs. World Team -
6. Lightweight: Yury Ivlev (33-6/69.4 kg/152.68 lbs.) vs. Romano De Los Reyes (9-8-2/69.7 kg/153.34 lbs.)
7. Welterweight: Magomed Shihshabekov (6-0/75 kg/165 lbs.) vs. Jason Ponet (6-4-2/75.6 kg/166.32 kg)
8. Middleweight: Sergey Kornev (1-0/83.1 kg/182.82 kg) vs. Nathan Schouten (25-15-2/82.5 kg/181.5 lbs.)
9. Light Heavyweight: Gadjimurad Omarov (17-2/92.4 kg/203.28 lbs.) vs. Nills Van Noord (7-3-1/91.5 kg/201.3 lbs.)
10. Heavyweight: Akhmed Sultanov (4-2/106.2 kg/233.64 lbs.) vs. Michael Kitta (5-3/109.7 kg/241.34 lbs.)
Bulgaria vs. USA East -
11. Lightweight: Yanko Yanev (7-0/68.7 kg/151.14 kg) vs. Renato Migliaccio (4-0/69.9 kg/153.78 lbs.)
12. Welterweight: Ivan Ivanov (7-0/75.9 kg/166.98 lbs.) vs. Steve Carl (10-1/76 kg/167.2 lbs.)
13. Middleweight: Jordan Radev (27-3/83.8 kg/184.36 lbs.) vs. Herbert Goodman (8-5/83.9 kg/184.58 lbs.)
14. Light Heavyweight: Atanas Dzhambazov (9-1/93 kg/204.6 lbs.) vs. Charles Grigsby (17-4/93 kg/204.6 lbs.)
15. Heavyweight: Emil Somoilov (3-0-1/93 kg/204.6 lbs.) vs. Lloyd Marshbanks (16-8/116.5 kg/256.3 lbs.)
