Maxim Grishin

Maxim Gennadievich Grishin (born 2 May 1984) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competes in the Light Heavyweight division.

A professional since 2008, he has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was the former M-1 Global Eastern Europe Heavyweight Champion.

Grishin competes in the heavyweight division, despite weighing around 220 lb, a mere 15 lb over the light heavyweight weight limit.

Grishin, therefore, is regarded as a small heavyweight, though he has fast striking ability.

He trains with the Red Devil Sport Club – the training facility of Fedor Emelianenko and other top Russian fighters.

As part of the Red Devil Sport Club, Grishin has also trained in Stary Oskol at the St. Alexander Nevsky Sport Palace.

In the build-up for his intended M-1 Global title fight against Guram Gugenishvili, Grishin trained with Kirill Sidelnikov, Dmitry Samoilov, Viktor Nemkov and Alexei Nazarov.

Unfortunately, Grishin was forced to withdraw from the bout with a knee injury that occurred during a national hand-to-hand combat fighting championship in Ufa.

Consequently, M-1 Global Americas Champion Kenny Garner gained the opportunity to challenge fight Gugenishvili for the M-1 Heavyweight Challenge Title.

Grishin made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Gela Getsadze at the World Pankration Championship.

After going the two-round distance, Grishin was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

However, that same night, Judo ace Baga Agaev used an armbar to force Grishin to submit just 47 seconds into their match.

Grishin joined M-1 Global in 2009, claiming a TKO victory in his first bout in March of that year.

Grishin faced Joaquim Ferreira in Brazil soon after, but lost via north-south choke.

Grishin suffered a further loss at the hands of Shane del Rosario in South Korea, defeated by TKO in just 21 seconds.

After a further two wins in the M-1 Global organisation, Grishin appeared for the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki promotion at KSW 12, where he faced Dawid Baziak.

Baziak defeated Grishin via unanimous decision.

Returning to M-1 organisation, Grishin joined their Eastern European tournament.

His opening round fight was against Gadzhimurad Nurmagomedov, which Grishin won via TKO in round 1 to progress to the semi-final.

There, Grishin met Arsen Abdulkerimov, again winning via TKO to reach the final.

In the final, Grishin had to face his training partner Alexander Volkov.

Despite Volkov's superior record of 7–1, Grishin won the fight via rear naked choke in the opening round.

Consequently, Grishin became the M-1 Global Eastern European Heavyweight Champion.

As Eastern European Champion, Grishin was scheduled to face Guram Gugenishvili, the Western European Champion, for the inaugural M-1 Global Heavyweight Championship.

However, a month before the fight, Grishin withdrew with a knee injury providing M-1 Selection Americas Champion Kenny Garner with an opportunity to challenge for the title.

Grishin faced Joachim Christensen on May 16, 2012 at М-1 Challenge 32 in his light heavyweight debut.

He won via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–27).

and was due to face Western Europe Champion Guram Gugenishvili for the M-1 Global heavyweight title until a knee injury forced his withdrawal.

Grishin faced Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in a kickboxing match on February 23 (Defender of the Fatherland Day), 2013 at Fight Nights 10.

He won via split (29–28, 28–29, 28–29).

Grishin faced Trevor Prangley, gilling in for an injured Mike Kyle, at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 17 on 30 September 2014.

He won the fight via TKO in the second round.

Grishin made his PFL debut on June 21, 2018 at PFL 2 (2018 season) against Jason Butcher.

Grishin won the fight in the first round after Butcher injured his ankle and foot after falling down.

Grishin then faced Rakim Cleveland on August 2, 2018 at PFL 5 (2018 season).

He won the bout via rear-naked choke in the second round.

Having won both of his bouts, Grishin advanced to the Quarter-Finals, where he faced Smealinho Rama on October 13, 2018 at PFL 9 (2018 season).

The bout ended in a majority draw after two rounds.

However Rama advanced further in the tournament via first round tiebreaker, wherein the winner of the first round advances further.

Grishin appeared on the next season, marking the occasion by facing former UFC fighter Jordan Johnson on June 6, 2019 at PFL 3 (2019 season).