Perak to Fight Nemkov in M-1 Challenge 60 Main Event

M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Stephan Puetz should know who his next challenger will be once M-1 Challenge 60 concludes on August 5.

Maro Perak will square off against Viktor Nemkov in the featured bout of the event, which will be held in Orel, Russia. M-1 announced earlier today that the winner will likely land a crack at the gold.

Perak is looking to turn the tides of his career against Nemkov. The Croatian has dropped his last two bouts, both by stoppage. A veteran of almost 30 professional MMA contests, Perak had won six of his previous seven fights before hitting his current skid. Perak holds huge wins over Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Travis Wiuff and Pride Fighting Championships’ Bob Sapp in his career, but he can ill afford a loss to Nemkov.

In Nemkov, Perak will have to deal with a submission specialist who has won nine of his last 10 bouts. The Russian last fought last July, where he knocked out Beksot Jiyanov in the first round. Before that, he lost a split decision to Puetz and he’d want nothing more than get a second crack at the champ.

The promotion announced three other bouts for M-1 Challenge 60 as well. Polish light heavyweight Marcin Zontek will lock horns with Maxim Futin; Zulfikar Usmanov will face off against Alexey Makhno in a lightweight contest; and Moktar Benkaci will meet Evgeni Lazukov in a bantamweight battle.

Both the prelims and main card of M-1 Challenge 60 will be streamed live from Orel in high definition on M1global.tv.