And when the 2009 "M-1 Challenge Presented by Affliction" (www.M-1Global.com) resumes with its "Sixth Edition" inside the Seoul Arena, Group B leading USA West (2-0 in team challenges and 8-2 overall individually) will find itself going head-to-head with an Imperial team that will not feature a single member from its 2008 M-1 Challenge Championship team.

After beginning its '09 campaign with two team losses, Fedor Emelianenko's Imperial team has made wholesale changes as it looks to unearth its next generation of superstars looking to follow in the footsteps of Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, and Kirill Sidelnikov.

While lightweight Mikhail Malyutin and heavyweight Alexey Oleinik were absent from Team Imperial in Brazil in May, the team still retained three holdovers from last year's squad with welterweight Erik Oganov, middleweight Dmitry Samoilov, and light heavyweight Mikhail Zayats. But Zayats, Samoilov, and Oganov will all be sitting out July's challenge in order to create roster space for rising prospects Marat Ilaev (welterweight), Radmir Gabdulin (middleweight), and Viktor Nemkov (light heavyweight).

Illaev, Gabdullin, and Nemkov will join holdovers Amirkhan Mazikhov and Maksim Grishin as Imperial faces a USA West team with its sights set on clinching a semifinal berth in the '09 M-1 Challenge post-season along with its first-ever Group title.

Not looking to coast into the playoffs, four of five fighters that helped USA West to its 4-1 win over South Korea in Japan this past April will be back, with light heavyweight Raphael Davis the lone fighter from the roster not set to compete on July 4.

However, team owners Steve Bash and Roy Engelbrecht have gone out and recruited King of the Cage light heavyweight champion Tony Lopez (12-2) to step up as a replacement against Nemkov, who has compiled a 4-0 record competing in M-1 Challenge events and earned his spot on the Imperial roster by going 2-0 in the M-1 Selections.

Returning at lightweight for USA West will be rising lightweight prospect David Jansen, who improved to 11-0 following his unanimous decision victory over Yui Chul Nam during April's M-1 Challenge event in Japan. The Team Quest member has already fought three times this year with his other wins having come against BodogFIGHT veteran Matt Lee as well as Rio Heroes alum Flavio Alvaro.