On March 16, 2012 in St. Petersburg at the Ice Sports Palace, within the framework of the M-1 Challenge 31 Oleinik vs Monson tournament, the semifinal fight of the M-1 Selection heavyweight grand prix between Denis Smoldarev (Alexander Nevsky) 3-0 and Denis Komkin (Versus ) 13-7.
Denis Smoldarev was still very young then and relatively recently came to mixed martial arts. His huge dimensions, the title of vice-champion in combat sambo and crushing striking technique made an impression and a great future was predicted for this fighter. In the quarterfinals, he was not without difficulty, but still broke the resistance of Niyaz Safarov from the Highlander club.
On the side of Denis Komkin, he already had a huge combat experience and a cannon strike from his right hand. His career began back in 2003 at middleweight title. On his way, he fought against such rivals as Ansar Chalangov, Stefan Struve, Mois Rimbon and Tadas Rimkevichus. On November 19, 2011, Denis returned to the ring after a one-year break and knocked out Ruslan Stepanyan in a furious one and a half minute quarterfinal fight.
Two big athletes with knockout punch entered the ring to determine the winner who was to advance to the final of the M-1 Selection Grand Prix.