[1] Events held near the end of the year featured bouts to crown inaugural M-1 Global Champions in each of the five weight divisions.
M-1 Challenge is a team-based competition organized with a series of events held around the world wherever MMA clubs compete.
[4] The event featured two title bouts that paired M-1 Global's 2010 "Selection" regional champions, who topped a worldwide tournament that began in January.
Belarusian Artiom Damkovsky and his Russian opponent Mairbek Taisumov fought to determine the Championship in the lightweight division.
[6] Taisumov became the M-1 Western European Lightweight Champion when he defeated Serhiy Adamchuk[7] and entered the championship bout with a 12–2 record.
In the first two rounds, the two men were relatively evenly matched: Damkovsky was the more powerful striker, landing telling blows with low and mid-kicks.
Gugenishvili achieved a technical submission victory as Garner lost consciousness, extending his undefeated run and making him the M-1 Global Heavyweight Champion.
Alexander Sarnavskiy, a previous M-1 Selection tournament participant,[18] faced off against Victor Kuku, who was undefeated in M-1 competition.
[23] Che Mills was also riding a two-fight win streak, which included a nine-second knockout of Manuel Garcia.