Abdellah Ezbiri

Abdellah Ezbiri comes from the ancient city of Lyon, in the south-east of France.    He endured a troubled (and troublesome) upbringing, growing up in an area marred by gang activity and high unemployment.    Ezbiri was drawn into that lifestyle as a teenager but after being wounded in a firearms incident his older brother insisted that he find a path in life.    His brother, a fighter turned trainer, brought him into kickboxing and steered Ezbiri away from the street life.   “I was brought into this sport by my brother; he trains me. Also just because in general I like fighting. There was a lot of fighting in the streets in our area where we grew up so it was just natural that we got drawn into this sport, I guess,” he says.   “This sport helps us channel our energies. It also motivates me because it is so challenging.”   The French-Moroccan fighter debuted at GLORY 8 TOKYO as part of the eight-man tournament but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Gabriel Varga, who went on to become GLORY featherweight champion.   Following that, his career largely kept him in France and China. He returned to GLORY in late 2017 to take part in the GLORY 47 LYON Featherweight Contender Tournament, which he won by beating Azize Hlali and Anvar Boynazarov in back-to-back fights.