A total of 19 fights plus a five-minute sparring exhibition between WAMMA champions Fedor Emelianenko and Shinya Aoki are now scheduled for Wednesday’s M-1 Challenge event scheduled for Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan.
In addition to Aoki vs. Fedor plus a superfight featuring French phenom Karl Amoussou vs. former IFL veteran Kazuhiro Hamanaka, there will be a total of 15 M-1 Challenge fights with host country Japan taking on England, South Korea vs. USA West, and Spain vs. France.
Additionally, fans in attendance will be treated to three preliminary fights featuring some of Japan’s brightest up-and-coming fighters.
Kicking off the evening will be a lightweight bout between Kosuke Umeda and Muneyuki Sato. Umeda vs. Sato will then be followed by a bantamweight matchup featuring Tomoaki Ueyama vs. Yu Hosoya. And rounding out the preliminary card will be Hiroashi Kuga in lightweight action vs. an unnamed opponent.
The current 19-bout lineup is as follows:
Preliminary Bouts -
Lightweight (70 kg/154 lbs.): Kosuke Umeda vs. Muneyuki Sato
Bantamweight (65 kg): Tomoaki Ueyama vs. Yu Hosoya
Lightweight (70 kg/154 lbs.): Hiroashi Kuga vs. TBD
Japan vs. England (best-of-five series) -
Lightweight (70 kg/154 lbs.): Luiz Andrade (Japan) vs. Ian Butlin (England)
Welterweight (76 kg/167.2 lbs.): Hidehiko Hasgawa (Japan) vs. Simon Phillips (England)
Middleweight (84 kg/184.8 lbs.): Riki Fukuda (Japan) vs. Matt Thorpe (England)
Light Heavyweight (93 kg/204.6 lbs.): Tatsuya Mizuno (Japan) vs. Tom Blackledge (England)
Heavyweight (+93 kg/204.7-plus lbs.): Yasuke Kawaguchi (Japan) vs. Rob Broughton (England)
USA West vs. South Korea (best-of-five series) -
Lightweight (70 kg/154 lbs.): David Jansen (USA West) vs. Yui Chui Nam (S. Korea)
Welterweight (76 kg/167.2 lbs.): Fabio Negao (USA West) vs. Myung Ho Bae (S. Korea)
Middleweight (84 kg/184.8 lbs.): Giva Santana (USA West) vs. Min Suk Heo (S. Korea)
Light Heavyweight (93 kg/204.6 lbs.): Raphael Davis (USA West) vs. Jae Young Kim (S. Korea)
Heavyweight (+93 kg/204.7-plus lbs.): Shane Del Rosario (USA West) vs. Doo Hee Lee (S. Korea)
France vs. Spain (best-of-five series) -
Lightweight (70 kg/154 lbs.): Makhtar Gueye (France) vs. Jose Luiz Zapter Aguirre (Spain)
Welterweight (76 kg/167.2 lbs.): Farouk Lakebir (France) vs. Jose Beltran (Spain)
Middleweight (84 kg/184.8 lbs.): Christophe Dafreville (France) vs. Rayco Zebenzui Romero Silva (Spain)
Light Heavyweight (93 kg/204.6 lbs.): Christian Mpumbu (France) vs. Enoc Solbes (Spain)
Heavyweight (+93 kg/204.7-plus lbs.): Soufian Elgarne (France) vs. Rogent Lloret (Spain)
Superfight -
Karl Amoussou vs. Kazuhiro Hamanaka
Special Exhibition -
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Shinya Aoki
