The semifinals of a welterweight grand prix will take place at
Elite MMA Championship 5 on Sept. 5.
The promotion announced Wednesday that Ismail
Naurdiev, Amiran
Gogoladze, Pavel Kusch
and Tymoteusz Lopaczyk will take part in the 170-pound bracket. The
semifinals will go down on Sept. 5, and the winners will square off
for the vacant welterweight crown at EMC 6 later this year.
EMC 5 will be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, and is headlined by a
heavyweight championship clash between Satoshi
Ishii and Stuart
Austin.
Austria’s Naurdiev is a four-time UFC veteran who went 2-2 during
his stint with the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 24-year-old has
compiled a 19-4 professional mark and owns wins over Siyar
Bahadurzada, Michel
Prazeres and Ben
Alloway.
Gogoladze is a 22-year-old prospect hailing from Akhaltsikhe,
Georgia. The M-1 Challenge veteran has been victorious in 10 of his
11 professional appearances.
A native of Ukraine, Kusch is coming off a three-bout stint in the
Professional Fighters League in which he went 1-2 but posted a
notable win over UFC talent Abubakar
Nurmagomedov. His 23-7 career record includes 20 victories by
way of submission.
Poland’s Lopaczyk is the least experienced of the four competitors.
While competing on the regional circuit, he has compiled a 6-1 mark
and finished five of those wins by TKO or submission.