Cavalari wins World Light-Heavyweight Championship at Dynamite

Saulo ‘Cassius Clay’ Cavalari is the new light-heavyweight champion of the world.

The Brazilian shut out his rival Zack ‘The Black Warrior’ Mwekassa over five rounds to take the vacant title in the main event of the Bellator/Glory Dynamite event’s kickboxing portion.

Both have a string of big finishes to their name and this fight was expected to end in similar fashion. Their first encounter, in the final of the GLORY 18 OKLAHOMA light-heavyweight contender tournament, ended with Mwekassa on the canvas by way of a Cavalari head-kick in the third round.

Mwekassa’s professional boxing background means he has some of the most dangerous hands in kickboxing, as evidenced by his huge knockouts of fighters such as Pat ‘HD’ Barry, Brian Collette and Carlos Brooks on the way to this title shot.

Cavalari, trained in kickboxing and Muay Thai since the age of nine, is dangerous both with his hands and legs. Aside from his head-kick KO of Mwekassa at GLORY 18, he is best known for a frightening stoppage of Mourad Bouzidi by way of overhand right at GLORY 12 NEW YORK.

Another big finish seemed likely in this rematch. Heavy blows were exchanged by both men throughout the contest but sheer heart and toughness meant that they refused to go down, absorbing shots that would have felled lesser fighters.

The first two rounds saw Cavalari reprise his gameplan from the first fight, staying mobile and looking to hammer Mwekassa’s legs with kicks. There was a marked improvement in Mwekassa’s kick defense though and he was often able to effect a block and walk Cavalari down into a corner.

When Mwekassa let his hands go they landed with the sound of a baseball bat hitting a beef carcass, heavy percussive thuds. Cavalari kept his hands very high and very tight, knowing he could not afford to take an early clean shot from Mwekassa while ‘Africa’s most vicious puncher’ was fresh.

That left openings for Mwekassa to go to the body and he scored often with a right hook/left hook combination to the torso, finishing up high with a left hook or uppercut. Kicking is a tiring attack mode and Mwekassa was looking to deplete Cavalari’s gas tank even further by knocking the wind out of him and bringing his hands down.

These rounds of attrition took their toll as both maintained a super-high workrate. A Cavalari head kick put Mwekassa down in the second but Mwekassa was off-balance and the referee ruled it a slip. Moments later Cavalari was on the receiving end of a questionable point deduction from the referee on grounds of ‘excessive holding’.

Head kicks remained his best chances throughout the fight though and he landed several with visible effect. One of them came right after the point-deduction. Cavalari took his frustrations out by way of a push-kick to the jaw which drew a gasp from the crowd.

As Cavalari tired his hands came down and his defense opened up. In the third round he took a right hand from Mwekassa which would have ended almost anyone else’s night there and then. Cavalari’s iron will (and chin) pushed him through it, and he shook it off with barely a wobble. At one point Mwekassa almost landed a head kick of his own as well, underlining the gains he has made in rounding his game out.

Constant exchanges continued until the final bell of the final round, though it was clear Cavalari was in the driving seat. The Brazilian’s confidence was surging in the final frame and Mwekassa looked like he needed a finish if he was going to get the win. Despite their best efforts to dismantle each other the finish never came and the two combatants went to a judges’ decision.

The judges came back with a majority decision. One of them had the fight a draw (47-47) while the other two had it a win for Cavalari, both scoring it 48-46. Without the point deduction in the second round, the result would have been a unanimous decision for Cavalari. A disappointed Mwekassa did not agree with the result but did not protest it.

Cavalari is now the World Light-Heavyweight Champion and will take some time off before returning to make his first defense of the belt. News on that fight will be released via the news section of GloryWorldSeries.com in the near future.