The 2012 M-1 Challenge season was the fifth season of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting presented by the M-1 Global promotion. The first event of the year, M-1 Challenge 31, was held on March 16, 2012, at the Ice Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

M-1 Challenge 31: Oleinik vs. Monson was held on March 16, 2012, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In the main event, Alexander Emelianenko defeated Tadas Rimkevičius officially by technical knockout at 1:52 of the second round.^[1] Reports say that the first round of the fight was fairly even, though Emelianenko was able to drop his opponent late in the round. During the second round, Rimkevičius tapped out to the punches coming from Emelianenko.

The M-1 Global Welterweight Championship was won by Rashid Magomedov from Yasubey Enomoto after a five-round unanimous decision victory.^[2] In another featured bout, Jeff Monson faced Alexey Oleinik where Monson won a split decision victory.^[3]

Results^[1]

Card	Weight Class				Round	Time	Method	Notes
Preliminary	Middleweight	Bruno Carvalho	def.	Ramazan Esenbaev	3	5:00	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)
Preliminary	Middleweight	Ilya Doderkin	def.	Alexei Martinov	1	1:57	Submission (rear-naked choke)
Preliminary	Flyweight	Marat Gafurov	def.	David Kozma	2	2:10	Submission (rear-naked choke)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Vugar Bakhshiev	def.	Jerome Bouisson	2	5:00	TKO (doctor stoppage)
Preliminary	Light Heavyweight	Abdulmazhid Magomedov	def.	Artur Shumakov	1	3:53	Submission (rear-naked choke)
Preliminary	Heavyweight	Deniss Smoldarev	def.	Denis Komkin	3	5:00	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–30, 29–28)
Main	Welterweight	Alexander Yakovlev	vs.	Shamil Zavurov	3	5:00	Draw (unanimous) (29–29, 28–28, 28–28)
Main	Heavyweight	Jeff Monson	def.	Alexey Oleinik	3	5:00	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 30–27)
Main	Welterweight	Rashid Magomedov	def.	Yasubey Enomoto	5	5:00	Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 49–47, 50–45)	For M-1 Welterweight Championship. Rashid to become new M-1 Global Welterweight Champion.
Main	Heavyweight	Alexander Emelianenko	def.	Tadas Rimkevičius	2	1:52	TKO (punches)

M-1 Challenge 32 is expected to be held on May 16, 2012, in Moscow, Russia.^[4] The event will include a Lightweight Championship bout in which Daniel Weichel will attempt to defend his title against Yuri Ivlev.^[5] But Yuri is injured arm and suffered a bout on June 21 ^[6]

Fight card^[4]

Card	Weight Class				Round	Time	Method	Notes
Main	Heavyweight	Kenny Garner (c)	def.	Magomed Malikov	3	3:31	KO (punches)	For M-1 Heavyweight Interim Championship
Main	Middleweight	Mario Miranda	def.	Arthur Guseinov	3	2:39	Submission (rear naked choke)	For Vacant M-1 Middleweight Championship
Main	Light Heavyweight	Maxim Grishin	def.	Joachim Christensen	3	5:00	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–27)
Main	Lightweight	Musa Khamanaev	def.	Artiom Damkovsky	3	5:00	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–26)
Main	Light Heavyweight	Arsen Abdulkerimov	def.	Jessie Gibbs	2	0:49	Submission (guillotine choke)
Preliminary	Welterweight	Ramazan Esenbaev	def.	Daniel Madrid	1	2:28	Submission (rear-naked choke)
Preliminary	Light Heavyweight	Marcin Zontek	def.	Salim Daudov	2	2:41	TKO (punches)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Nikolai Kaushansky	def.	Mantas Liulionis	1	2:04	Submission (rear-naked choke)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Iftikhor Arbobov	def.	Igor Egorov	1	1:27	TKO (punches)

M-1 Challenge 33: Emelianenko vs. Magomedov was held on June 6, 2012, in Dzheyrakhsky District, Russia.^[7]

Fight card^[7]

Card	Weight Class				Round	Time	Method	Notes
Main	Heavyweight	Alexander Emelianenko	def.	Ibragim Magomedov	2	5:00	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)
Main	Welterweight	Mukhamed Aushev	def.	Ivica Truscek	3	5:00	Decision (Split)
Main	Welterweight	Khusein Khaliev	def.	Patrick Vallee	1	0:39	Sub (Arm Bar)
Main	Welterweight	Juan Manuel Suarez	def.	Eric Oganov	2	5:00	TKO (Corner Stoppage)
Preliminary	Featherweight	Yunus Evloev	def.	Olivier Pastor	3	5:00	Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Said Khamzat Avkhadov	def.	Arsen Temirkhanov	3	5:00	Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary	Welterweight	Sheikh-Magomed Arapkhanov	def.	Sunay Hamidov	1	2:03	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Murad Abdullaev	def.	Arbi Agujev	3	5:00	Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Cazal Philippe	def.	Alexey Nevzorov	4	5:00	Sub (Triangle choke)	Lightweight Final the M-1 Selection GP
Preliminary	Middleweight	Yuri Shurov	def.	Rafal Lewon	2	1:00	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	Middleweight Final the M-1 Selection GP
Preliminary	Welterweight	Dzhambulat Kurbanov	def.	Ivan Raul	1	2:47	Sub (Arm Bar)	Welterweight Final the M-1 Selection GP
Preliminary	Featherweight	Antun Račić	def.	Salman Dzamaldaev	2	3:36	Sub (Guillotine Choke)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Ivica Dzebic	def.	Ashot Pashyan	1	4:50	TKO (Punches)

On April 6, 2012, Evgeni Kogan, Director of Global operations for M-1 Global, announced that the promotion will hold an event on June 21, 2012, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. At this event, Fedor Emelianenko must face with Pedro Rizzo.^[8]

On June 21, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Fedor Emelianenko faced three-time UFC heavyweight title contender Pedro Rizzo in an event promoted by M-1 Global.^[9][10] Prior to the bout, it was rumored that Fedor would retire after taking on Rizzo.^[11] Originally denying any possible rumors of retirement at first, Emelianenko later announced his retirement in-ring post-fight after defeating Rizzo by knockout in the first two minutes of the first round.^[12][13]

Fight card^[7]

Card	Weight Class				Round	Time	Method	Notes
Main	Heavyweight	Fedor Emelianenko	def.	Pedro Rizzo	1	1:24	KO (Punches)
Main	Heavyweight	Kenny Garner	def.	Guram Gugenishvili	3	5:00	TKO (Doctor's Stoppage)	For M-1 Global Heavyweight Championship
Main	Lightweight	Musa Khamanaev	def.	Daniel Weichel	1	1:55	Sub (Heel Hook)	For M-1 Global Lightweight Championship
Main	Heavyweight	Jeff Monson	def.	Denis Komkin	1	1:58	Sub (North-South Choke)
Main	Featherweight	Marat Gafurov	def.	Mairbek Taisumov	3	5:00	Decision (Split)
Main	Featherweight	Mikhail Malyutin	def.	Renat Gasanov	1	3:16	TKO (punches)
Preliminary	Welterweight	Ramazan Emeev	def.	Albert Duraev	1	1:36	TKO (Punches)
Preliminary	Featherweight	Vugar Bahshiev	def.	Jerome Bouisson	1	2:48	Sub (Heel Hook)
Preliminary	Featherweight	Pavel Vitruk	def.	Radoslaw Piechnik	3	5:00	Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary	Heavyweight	Akhamed Sultanov	def.	Denis Goltsov	1	1:28	Sub (Heel Hook)
Preliminary	Middleweight	Abdulmazhid Magomedov	def.	Davrhek Isakov	1	3:25	TKO (punches)

M-1 Challenge 34: Emelianenko vs. Glukhov was held on September 30, 2012, in Moscow, Russia^[14]

Fight card^[7]

Card	Weight Class				Round	Time	Method	Notes
Main	Heavyweight	Alexander Emelianenko	def.	Konstantin Gluhov	5	5:00	Decision (split)
Main	Light Heavyweight	Sergey Kornev	def.	Marcin Zontek	5	5:00	Decision (split)	М-1 Global Light Heavyweight Championship
Main	Welterweight	Yasubey Enomoto	def.	Khusein Khaliev	3	5:00	Decision (split)
Main	Middleweight	Gregory Babene	def.	Enoc Solves Torres	2	2:19	Submission (heel hook)
Main	Lightweight	Aliyar Sarkerov	def.	Ekhdigat Adakishiev	3	5:00	Decision (unanimous)

M-1 Challenge 35: Emelianenko vs. Monson was held on November 15, 2012, in Ice Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia.^[15]

"'Fight card"'^[15]

Card	Weight Class				Round	Time	Method	Notes
Main	Heavyweight	Jeff Monson	def.	Alexander Emelianenko	2	3:17	Submission (North-South Choke)
Main	Welterweight	Rashid Magomedov(c)	def.	Alexander Yakovlev	5	5:00	Decision (unanimous)	For the M-1 Global Welterweight Championship
Main	Middleweight	Ramazan Emeev	def.	Mario Miranda (fighter) (c)	5	5:00	Decision (unanimous)	For the M-1 Global Middleweight Championship
Main	Featherweight	Marat Gafurov	def.	Vugar Bakhshiev	1	4:18	Submission (rear-naked choke)
Main	Heavyweight	Denis Smoldarev	def.	Akhmed Sultanov	3	5:00	Decision (unanimous)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Mairbek Taisumov	def.	Leon del Gaudio	1	3:45	Submission (guillotine choke)
Preliminary	Featherweight	Mikhail Malyutin	def.	Artem Boiko	2	1:39	Submission (anaconda)
Preliminary	Lightweight	Artem Damkovsky	def.	Ivica Truscek	3	5:00	Decision (split)
Preliminary	Featherweight	Pavel Vitruk	def.	Ilya Ovechkin	3	5:00	Decision (unanimous)

M-1 Challenge 36
Date	December 8, 2012
Venue	Mytishchi Arena
City	Mytishchi, Russia

M-1 Challenge 36: Garner vs. Guram II was held on December 8, 2012, in Mytishchi Arena, Mytishchi, Russia.^[16]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2012)

"'Fight Card"' ^[16]

Card	Weight Class				Round	Time	Method	Notes
Main	Heavyweight	Kenny Garner (c)	def.	Guram Gugenishvili	4	2:03	TKO (punches)	For the M-1 Global Heavyweight Championship
Main	Middleweight	Andrei Semenov (fighter)	def	Michele Vergenelli	3	5:00	Decision (unanimous)
Main	Welterweight	Artur Guseinov	def.	Evgeniy Fomenko	1	0:55	KO (spinning back kick)

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