Abdulaev Defends Welterweight Belt Against Kunchenko at M-1 Challenge 65

M-1 Challenge welterweight champion Murad Abdulaev will make his first title defense on April 8 when he fights Alexey Kunchenko at M-1 Challenge 65, M-1 Global announced on Wednesday.

The event will be held at Ice Palace Sports Center in St. Petersburg, Russia. The action will be streamed live at M1Global.tv.

The 170-pound title tilt replaces the rescheduled lightweight championship between defending titlist Mansour Barnaoui and Artem Damkovsky due to both men becoming injured in training.

The Russian organization also announced that a lightweight showdown between former 155-pound king Maxim Divnich and Robert Turnquest will take place on the card as well.

M-1 Challenge 65 will be anchored by a skirmish between reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight titleholder Ramazan Emeev and Maiquel Falcao. Their match is a semifinals duel in the M-1 Middleweight Grand Prix with the victor set to take on Alexander Shlemenko, the other semifinals winner, later in the year.