Love to hate him or hate to love him, Kenny ‘Deuce’ Garner is making a name for himself in the M-1 Global Heavyweight division. As if he and the camera have had a love affair liking that of Antony and Cleopatra, this heavyweight phenom is surprising fans, media and executives at every turn and with his ‘in your face’ personality has critics split between whether he’s the ‘real deal’ or just flash in the pan; but after three convincing wins – with two having him marked him as a huge underdog – the Deuce is backing up his talk.
Headed into Saturday night’s M-1 Selection Americas Finals, Garner had a seemingly insurmountable task ahead of him: stop Pat Bennett and his proud wrestling pedigree. Not only did Garner neutralize the wrestling skills of Bennett by stuffing every takedown, he confirmed to fans why he should be considered the most-feared striker in M-1’s heavyweight roster in a battle where a knockout seemed impossible.
After a brief exchange in the clinch, Garner revealed a lead hook that could not miss; he caught Bennett, then caught him again and caught him again. Bennett had no answer to the game that was being forced upon him as blow after blow crumbled his confidence and left him stumbling and disoriented. In an effort to fight back, Bennett reached for the single leg and got stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey; the cranberry sauce was a combination from Garner that sent him rubber-legging across the canvass and into the ropes. Although refusing to fall – possibly because Deuce was holding him up so he could feed a second and third helping of heavy leather to Bennett’s face – Bennett was clearly unable to intelligently defend himself forcing referee Big Dan Miragliotta with no choice but to stop the bout at 2:31 of the very first round, giving Garner and his precision striking the TKO victory.
“I told you what I’m here to do – I’m here to win the Championship. I’m here to win the M-1 belt. Thank you M-1 for this opportunity,” said Garner in the post-fight interview. “If you step in to the ring with me, you better bring it ‘cuz I will beat your brains out. Have a nice day.”
On route to winning the Finals bout, Garner walked through a tough Matt Hopkins with a first-round TKO victory, hailed victorious in a three-round decision war with Andrei Kapilou and marked his dominance with the first round TKO over Pat Bennett.
With his win, Kenny Garner is one of the five M-1 Selection 2010 – Americas champions and will look to chase the M-1 Challenge Heavyweight championship belt in the coming months. Undoubtedly he will be watching the division-crowning tilt between Europeans Maxim Grishin and Guram Gugenishvili who headline M-1 Challenge XXI in October.
The M-1 Challenge events will transition away from the previous ‘team vs. team’ concept and are positioned to drive the M-1 brand further into the US and European markets as mega-event spectaculars.
October 28 in St. Petersburg, Russia is the setting for M-1 Challenge XXI: Guram vs. Grishin where the first ever M-1 Challenge championship belts will be awarded in the Lightweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions.
M-1 Challenge XXII hits Atlantic City December 11thand the crowning of the Welterweight and Light Heavyweight champs.
February 2011 marks the first of six M-1Challenge events with M-1 Challenge XXIII where the newly crowned M-1 Champions will look to defend their titles against the top fighters in the contention system.
Fuelled with stacked undercards featuring new and returning warriors, the M-1 Challenge events will rival promotions for unsurpassed excitement, delivering live audiences and viewers worldwide the ultimate fan experience.
2011 marks a full calendar of mixed martial arts action as M-1 Global continues to build upon a highly successful Selections tournament. Being added next year are two full Selections tournaments featuring 12 live events across Eastern and Western Europe and the Americas; future superstars will begin mapping out the steps necessary to become M-1 Champions. These Selections tournaments will drive the depth of the contenders ladder in each weight class as warriors cross oceans to battle for the right to face M-1 Global champions at the live, mega-spectacular M-1 Challenge events scheduled throughout the year.
