M-1 Challenge 64 results: Shlemenko beats Slava, Volkov crowned heavyweight champ

M-1 Global kicked off 2016 with an exceptional fight card headlined by a heavyweight title fight and a middleweight Grand Prix semi-final between Alexander Shlemenko and Vyacheslav Vasilevsky.

Both fights lived up to expectations, as the former Bellator champ Alexander Volkov was crowned the new M-1 heavyweight champion, while Shlemenko won a close (and somewhat controversial) decision over ‘Slava’ to reach the final of the Grand Prix. Shlemenko will meet the winner of the second Grand Prix semi-final between Maiquel Falcao and Ramadan Emeev in June.

The main card also featured a pair of bantamweight tournament semi-finals, which eventually led to a Vitruk vs. Branchuk final, which will take place in several months.

Check out the results below:

Main Card

Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko def. Vyacheslav Vaselevsky via unanimous decision

Alexander "Drago" Volkov def. Denis Smoldaraev via Submission (Triangle Choke, Round 3, 0:42)

Vladimir Katyhin def. Joe Ray by unanimous decision

Pavel Vitruk def. Sergey Morozov by unanimous decision

Vitaly Branchuk def. Antun Racic by unanimous decision

Prelims

Timur Nagibin def. Andrey Lezhnev by unanimous decision

Valery Myasnikov def. Vyacheslav "Bison" Bogomol via Submission (RNC, Round 2, 2:37)

Magomed Mutaev def. Vadim Orischak by unanimous decision

Maksim Grabovich def. Stefan Larisch by unanimous decision

Kurban Ibragimov def. Dmitriy Mikutsa via KO (Round 1, 4:33)