Mikael Silander (16-5) will face an experienced Ukrainian fighter Vitali Branchuk (22-6) when M-1 Challenge 82 arrives on August 5th at the Hartwall Arena.
The “Hulk” Silander has won his last four of five bouts, and most recently beat Eduardo Filipe by TKO at Cage 39 in April. He was scheduled to perform on M-1 Challenge 78 event, but an unfortunate hand injury prevented him from debut. Now, the Espoo Ring Shark Gym fighter make his M-1 debut on home turf.
Branchuk is a versatile fighter and former M-1 bantamweight title contender. Coming off a 8 fight winning streak, he suffered a loss in a close fight with Pavel Vitruk back in October, but scored a unanimous decision victory over Moktar Benkaci later in February 2017.
The promotion says “The winner of this fight will become one step closer to fight the Gran-Prix winner and become the next M-1 title contender.”
