M-1 Global officially announced Friday the launch of its Ukraine office, joining its existing offices in St. Petersburg, Russia; Amsterdam, Holland; and Los Angeles, California.

“I’m so glad we have an opportunity of opening an M-1 Global branch here in Ukraine,” said Vadim Finkelchtein, President of M-1 Global. “This country has lots of talented fighters and gave world some of the best athletes. We are happy with the fact that Ukraine will be able to contribute to the evolution of MMA.”

M-1 Global has named Dmitri Khristyuk as the first-ever president of its M-1 Ukraine operations.

“We experience revolutionary times in the world of Ukrainian MMA,” began Khristyuk. “Before introducing M-1 Global, our country saw no systematic development of MMA. Some fighters managed to break through though. But from now on MMA will be developing thanks to M-1 Global. Beside holding events, M-1 Ukraine will help local fighters achieve highest level and we believe that Team Ukraine will win gold in M-1 Challenge by 2010.”

Ukraine’s first-ever entry into the M-1 Challenge will be determined via M-1 Global’s latest fight series, the M-1 Selection. The M-1 Selection will serve as a year-long annual tournament to establish which fighters are best suited to represent their home country in the following year’s M-1 Challenge. With the first M-1 Selection series having been launched in Russia, M-1 Ukraine is poised to become the second country to launch an M-1 Selection franchise.

Roman Gontyuk, twice a medial in Judo at the Olympic Games, is excited that MMA’s growth in the Ukraine has resulted in the awarding of a full-time M-1 Global office as well as a M-1 Selection fight series that will lead to a Ukranian entry in the 2010 M-1 Challenge.

“I’m pleased to attend the M-1 Ukraine opening,” stated Gontyuk. “Mixed martial arts are a whole knowledge base in itself. MMA broke through by uniting different martial arts, including judo. I have many friends from the U.S. and Japan who used to fight on the highest level of competition and now they fight under MMA rules.”

Further details regarding the launch of M-1 Ukraine and its M-1 Selection fight series will be made available on www.M-1Global.com.