Top lightweight talents Shemsi Beqiri (72-9, 31 KO’s) and Murthel Groenhart (54-16-3, 30 KO’s) will look to get back on the contender trail when they face off against each other at GLORY 14 ZAGREB on Saturday, March 8.
Groenhart is currently ranked at #10 in the lightweight division while Beqiri occupies the #7 spot.
Lightning-fast technician Beqiri and knee-strike knockout artist Groenhart started their GLORY careers with impressive wins before stumbling in recent outings. They both ride two-fight losing streaks into this crucial match, both by coincidence having lost to the same two fighters.
Beqiri lost a close split-decision to #3-ranked Davit Kiria (GLORY 3 ROME) and a unanimous decision to #2-ranked Robin Van Roosmalen (GLORY 10 LOS ANGELES).
Groenhart reversed that order, dropping unanimous decisions to Van Roosmalen (31-6, 19 KO’s) at GLORY 7 MILAN and Kiria (21-9, 6 KO’s) at GLORY 10 LOS ANGELES.
“This critical match will be one of the most hard-fought in the history of GLORY’s 155lb weight-class,” says Cor Hemmers, GLORY World Series Head of Talent Operations.
“The winner puts his name back into the contender conversation while the loser faces the prospect of exiting the rankings Top Ten for the first time.”
Beqiri fights out of the SuperPro Basel Gym in Basel, Switzerland. He has trained extensively with Albert Kraus from SuperPro Netherlands and has also trained a lot with Giorgio Petrosyan, one of his closest friends.
Groenhart fights out of Mike’s Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where his training partners include Gokhan Saki and Badr Hari. The 2012 K-1 World MAX 2012 tournament winner also recently spent time training in Florida, US with The Blackzilians MMA team.
GLORY 14 ZAGREB takes place on Saturday, March 8 at Arena Zagreb in Croatia. The card is headlined by local hero Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic against Remy Bonjasky and also hosts a lightweight title fight.
The card airs on SPIKE TV in the US, BT Sport in the UK and The Fight Network in Canada. In total it will air in over 150 territories worldwide. Check local listings for broadcast times and details.
