M-1 Global Impresses in First Trip to Arizona
M-1 completed their first venture to Arizona in what seemed to be a USA vs. Russia all out battle for the spotlight. The main card started with three fights that lasted less than three minutes combined and had the crowd at Grand Canyon University pumped for the dual main events.
The Arizona and Las Vegas based fighters seemed to pull very good fan numbers, but there was also a steady stream of fans yelling out in Russian thought the night. Four out of five fights were incredibly exciting and some of the best M-1 has had in the USA while the fifth was a drawn out war of attrition.
Daniel Madrid started off the night with a complete domination and shot his name right into the M-1 title mix when he submitted Tom Gallicchio in just under 50 seconds of the first round. Madrid hit Gallicchio with a nice cross sending his mouthpiece flying and forced a takedown. Once on the Mat, Madrid transitioned into a deep arm bar and the tap was soon to follow.
The next fight showcased another rising star in Yasubey Enomoto, a self-proclaimed ninja from Switzerland against Josh Thorpe. Enomoto seemed to control the pace in the standup until Thorpe rushed the takedown. Within a few seconds Enomoto transitioned from an omoplata to a triangle that sunk nicely and also forced a tap 1:07 into round 1.
The last fight before the co-main event Arthur Gueseinov met hometown fighter Eddie Arizmendi and it promised to bring fireworks. Both fighters traded a nice barrage of kicks ending in a nice judo throw from Gueseinov. When Arizmendi rolled for a reverse triangle his Russian counterpart stood and decided to take his leg back to the motherland. The heel hook devastated and forced a tap only 50 seconds into the fight.
Three fights in under a few minutes, how could the night bring us anything but excitement?
In the co main event Kenny Garner met a late replacement in Maxim Grishin. The fight went into deep water with both heavyweights extremely gassed out within two rounds without many good enough attempts to finish. Late in the fifth round Grishin could not take any more punishment and was wincing in pain, while he tapped out due to exhaustion. This fight had many in the audience worn out, but with Vinny still on his way to the ring, we all quickly woke up.
Mikhail Zayats met Vinny Magalhaes in the final fight of the night and the fight defiantly proved worthy. Zayats continuously battered Magalhaes with counter strikes and leg kicks edging out two rounds with some questionable rope grabbing stuffed takedowns. In the third round Magalhaes threw a semi truck head kick taking both fighters down to the mat as it was thrown that hard. Magalhaes popped up and swarmed to complete the TKO over Zayats in an exciting five second blitz.
M-1 Global delivered a solid card for true MMA fans and we can only hope they keep booking events inside the USA.
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Category: Event Pictures, M1 Global, MMA, Results
About the Author (Author Profile)
A college student residing in Arizona, coming off of active duty and continuing to work for the government. I hold a black belt in Hapkido, and have high school wrestling experience paired with multiple grappling tournaments. I spent six months training Authentic Muay Thai and now I am currently enrolling in Gracie B.J.J/MMA this week. I plan on starting my amateur fighting Career sometime late this year to early next year and also plan on entering B.J.J. tournaments through the year.Subscribe
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