Alexander Volkov and Denis Smoldarev fought for the vacant world heavyweight title at the M-1 Challenge 64 tournament, which took place on February 19, 2016 in Moscow. At the same tournament, the first battle between Alexander Shlemenko and Vyacheslav Vasilevsky took place.
Denis Smoldarev at that time was one of the largest and most successful heavyweights in Europe - he already had victories over such fighters as Ante Delia, Maro Perak, Akhmed Sultanov and Shaban Ka, and in addition the title of M-1 Selection champion. possesses excellent striking technique, good wrestling due to the school of combat sambo and enormous physical strength.
However, this time he had to face an opponent who was in no way inferior in size and striking power, and in the number of merits he was very much superior. Two-time Bellator Grand Prix champion Alexander Volkov returned to Russia and signed with M-1 Global to add the M-1 Challenge belt to his collection, and then sign with the UFC.
Two-meter spectacular fighters, who had a total of 42 professional fights by that time, M-1 Selection champion and two-time Bellator Grand Prix champion, Denis Smoldarev and Alexander Volkov against each other, and the M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion belt is at stake