In a rematch of their 2014 Bellator MMA title fight, Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko will take on Brandon “The Bull” Halsey in St. Petersburg, Russia.
In a shocking upset, undefeated rising prospect Brandon Halsey submitted the reigning champion Shlemenko in just 35 seconds.
The fight was announced via M-1 Challenge‘s official Instagram account on Tuesday.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSgAnzdlXLK/?taken-by=m1global&hl=en
Shlemenko (55-9, 1NC) has won six-straight fights since losing to Halsey in late-2014. Three months after the loss he competed outside of the Bellator MMA cage and defeated Yasubey Enomoto under the Fight Nights banner. He then returned to Bellator in February of 2015 and knocked out Melvin Manhoef. That fight was later turned into a No Contest due to a drug test failure by Shlemenko. He was originally given a three-year suspension, which went on to be lifted. In 2016 he picked up two wins over Vyacheslav Vasilevsky in M-1. He returned the Bellator cage in October and knocked out Kendall Grove. Most recently, Shlemenko returned to M-1 just last month and picked up a unanimous decision win over Paul Bradley.
Halsey (9-2) was on top of the world following his stunning win over Shelemenko. However, in what was set to be his first title defense nearly one year after winning the belt, Halsey missed weight. His fight against Kendall Grove was a lose-lose for him, as, if he won, he would have to vacate the belt, but if Grove won, Grove would become the new champion. Halsey picked up a fourth-round TKO before vacating the title. In October of 2015 at Bellator 144, Rafael Carvalho TKO’d -1000 favorite Brandon Halsey to win the vacant middleweight title. In his sole 2016 bout, Halsey was upset yet again, this time losing by first-round submission at the hands of John Salter. Halsey was released from the promotion shortly after.
‘M-1 Challenge 79’ is set to take place in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 1. No bouts have been announced aside from the Shlemenko-Halsey main event.
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