Newly-crowned featherweight champion Serhiy Adamchuk says he is ready to get back in the ring and defend his belt as soon as GLORY matchmakers want to book him.
The 23-year-old Ukrainian trains and fights out of Mike’s Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands and on Friday was able to take a decision win over Gabriel Varga in the main event of the Superfight Series card to take the Canadian’s belt from him.
It was far from a beautiful fight however. Both fighters have somewhat defensive, counter-attacking styles and Varga’s height and reach advantage were also significant, which led Adamchuk to employ heavy use of the clinch to spoil his offense.
“A lot of people like drama but this fight was technical, tactical, a smart fight. Varga is a difficult fighter, he is a top fighter, a champion. That’s why the fight had to be lie that,” said Adamchuk post-fight.
“I am happy now that I won the belt, and that feeling will last for two or three days, but I know also that I made mistakes. A lot of people want this belt, I know this. So soon I will be back in training. At Mike’s Gym we don’t stop, like Mike Passenier says, we never give up.”
Adamchuk will soon find out who his opponent is. A four-man Featherweight Contender Tournament takes place at GLORY 26 AMSTERDAM on Friday December 4 and features Mosab Amrani and Shane Oblonsky among others. The winner will be Adamchuk’s first challenger.
“Everyone in GLORY is a top fighter, there are no easy guys, so this is motivation for me. They are hungry guys and they want this belt. But today is my day. I hope I can be ready to fight again soon. I love kickboxing and I love fighting so hopefully they have a fight for me soon,” Adamchuk commented.
“I am going to take only a little bit of rest and that’s it. We never give up, only go, go, go forward. So I hope to see you a lot of times here [at a post-fight press conference].
“Thanks to everyone who made this show and thanks to all my trainers and training partners. I could not have done this without them so this is not just a win for me, it’s a win for my team and also for my country.”
Adamchuk is now 3-0 in GLORY. He debuted in June by taking a fight on 24hrs notice against lightweight prospect Marat Grigorian and then returned to his normal weight class in September for a win over Anvar Boynazarov on the Dynamite card.
Friday’s win over Varga made it a perfect three for three in Adamchuk’s GLORY run and capped a short but remarkable rise from unknown debutant to champion of his weight class. No doubt he will be ringside in Amsterdam to watch his first challenger emerge.
