When the M-1 Selection 2010 –  Americas heavyweight tournament kicks off, the gritty group of eight warriors will be chiselled down to four by the night’s end. Fans in attendance should be expecting thunderous collisions and torrents of takedowns at will on June 26 at Bally’s Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.

Battles in the heavyweight division include highlight matchups between John “War” Juarez, stepping into the ring against New Jersey native Pat Bennett; a bout expected to produce a hailstorm of intense striking. Matt Hopkins, who trains out of Victory Athletics with Dennis “Superman” Hallman, taking on American Top Team affiliate, Kenny “Deuce” Garner.

The remaining two bouts feature relative newcomers Medi Hassan squaring off against Robert Leonard and Andre Kapilov going toe-to-toe with Canan Dunn.

“The goal of the M-1 Selection tournament structure is to seek out and produce the next generation of mixed martial arts super-stars,” says M-1’s Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan. “This is the first round of the 2010 heavyweight tournament in North America and I’m expecting outstanding performances from all eight athletes. The following bracket bouts will only get better from here out.”

With the combined athleticism of all eight fighters, M-1 Global match-maker Paul Domenech has put together a phenomenal tournament designed to showcase the grabbling, striking, wrestling and slick submissions skills of each individual as they look to capitalize on their opportunity at the M-1 Selection 2010 – Americas.

The M-1 Selection – Americas tournament second round takes place live on June 26 at Bally’s Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tickets are available through www.TicketMaster.com. Doors open at 6.30 pm, first fight at 7:00 PM/ET.

Free broadcast coverage of the entire 2010 M-1 Selection tournament will be available  to viewers worldwide on www.M-1global.com and selected affiliate partner sites.