On July 21, 2007, the first mixed martial arts tournament in world history took place, which was not held on solid ground. This was the very first Battle of the Neva, organized by the M-1 companies. The ring and spectator seats were installed on a huge pontoon, near one of the most picturesque embankments in the center of St. Petersburg.
In the main fight of the evening, Alexander Emelianenko was supposed to fight with the seasoned Gilbert Ivel, but he refused the fight and he was replaced by the hefty Jesse Gibbs, who has many titles in karate and jiu-jitsu.
The Dutchman would go on to become one of the main stars of the 2009 and 2010 M-1 Challenge World Team Championships and score a number of impressive victories. But first he had to fight the formidable Alexander, who by that time was already a star of Pride FC tournaments and was competing in Russia for the third time in his history.

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