M-1 Challenge 2009 announcement, TV deals, M-1 & Bulgaria and the bright future of some representatives of Team Holland in this M-1 Global August report
M-1 Challenge 2009
Instead of ten participating teams, next year the challenge will be comprised of 16 countries.
The new candidates are the representatives from England, Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil and India.
M-1 Global will make the selection public in due time.
M-1 Challenge on air
Starting September 2008 the MMA fans in 18 different countries will be able to see the first TV productions of M-1 on the sport channels in their respective countries.
United States, Canada, Mexico, Korea, Philippines, Brazil, India, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, C.A.R, Chad, Comoros Islands, Congo, Democratic republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory-Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Reunion, Rwanda, St.Helena, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaire, Zimbabwe.
M-1 & Bulgaria
UFC veteran Yordan Radev who is of Bulgarian origin and Harry van Doorn (matchmaker of M-1 Global) were in Bulgaria to make contact with Lyuben Djubrilov of the Bulgarian MMA Federation. M-1 strongly believes in the future of MMA in Bulgaria which is comparable to the level of Russia a few years ago.
The Bulgarian team will participate in the Challenge of 2009 and the contract will be signed by the end of August 2008.
M-1 Challenge delivers the bright future for Cristea, Jones and Gibbs
It’s already clear that participation in the M-1 Challenge opened the door to a bright MMA future for some fighters of the Dutch team.
After his nerve-racking fight against Daisuke Nakamura, in which he more then once brought the crowd on their feet with his fighting spirit, Japanese promotors showed great interest in Bogdan Cristea.
Former Judo champion Jason Jones also caught the eyes of the international promotors.
Strikeforce and Pro Elite seem to be interested and he will probably also start fighting in Deep in Japan.
Heavyweight Jessie Gibbs is also steadily building a reputation of his own. With his winning streak of three consecutive victories with a submission or referee stoppage he finds himself in the picture.
