Following Korean middleweight Jae Young Kim's two-round majority decision loss against Daniel Acacio, Brazilian light heavyweight Alexander Machado clinched the team victory for Naja after submitting Dool Hee Lee with a rear naked choke at 3:26 of round 2.

Despite losing in front of their home fans, Team South Korea still gave everyone watching live in the arena and at home something to celebrate when Hae Joon Yang recorded the unofficial "Knockout of the Night" after sending Brazilian heavyweight Joaquim "Mamute" Ferreira sprawling to the canvas in a short but highly enthralling brawl. Needing just 14 seconds to take out Ferreira, Yang improved to 3-0 in his professional career with all three victories coming via first round (T)KO.

During the night's team challenge opener, Finland improved to 2-1 in Group B with an impressive 4-1 victory over Bulgaria. Competing without its top fighter, middleweight Lucio Linhares, Finland kept its playoff hopes alive by dominating the Bulgarians.
With Linhares focused on training for his Affliction and M-1 debut on pay-per-view on Aug. 1, lightweight Niko Puhakka, light heavyweight Marcus Vanttinen, heavyweight Toni Valtonen, and welterweight Janne Tulirinta, who recently received his brown belt from Linhares, all stepped up. With the exception of Linhares' replacement, Mikko Suvanto, every other Finnish fighter not only won but stopped their respective opponent within the distance.

If Group C leader USA East loses on Aug. 15 in Amsterdam, Finland still has a mathematical chance to supplant the Americans. However, the Fins' chances of making the playoffs still remain slim, as USA East would not only have to lose but fail to win two bouts during its head-to-head series vs. Team Benelux.

With its sixth edition now in the books, the seventh edition of the '09 M-1 Challenge is scheduled to take place during a two-day MMA festival in Amsterdam from Aug. 15-16. In addition to USA East and Benelux, teams from Japan, France, Spain, and England will also all be in action. Additional information concerning the event will be released on www.M-1Global.com later this week.

Official results from today's event are listed below:

Bulgaria vs. Finland -

1. Lightweight (-70 kg/154 lbs.) - Niko Puhakka (FIN) def. Yanko Yanev (BUL) via TKO (strikes) at 2:16 of round 1
2. Welterweight (-76 kg/167.2 lbs.) - Janne Tulirinta (FIN) def. Ivan Ivanov (BUL) via TKO (strikes) at 3:44 of round 1
3. Middleweight (-84 kg/184.8 lbs.) - Rosen Dmitirov (BUL) def. Mikko Suvanto (FIN) via majority decision
4. Light Heavyweight (-93 kg/204.6 lbs.) - Marcus Vanttinen (FIN) vs. Emil Samoilov (BUL) via submission (verbal) at 3:42 of round 3
5. Heavyweight (+93 kg/+ 204.6 lbs.) - Toni Valtonen (FIN) def. Nikola Dipchkov (BUL) via submission (triangle) at 4:49 of round 1