There was little in the way of a feeling-out process in this one. The two went straight into meaty exchanges from the off, hammering each other with hard left hooks, right hands and leg kicks. Dennis initially looked like he had come to brawl as he went in with overhand rights, but as the round developed it became clear that Dennis -a GLORY debutant - has a tricky Muay Thai game.
Again and again he was able to bait Collette into opening up his midsection for a knee or a body kick. Then it would be his turn to cover up as Collette would fire back with his big left hook to the head or body, followed by a hard leg kick.
There was little to choose between them at the end of the first round, but in the second round it became clear that Collette and his team had figured a few things out. Dennis was not doing a good job of defending his lead leg so Collette, who has a murderous leg kick, went to work.
Dennis took kick after kick full-force to the lead thigh and as the kicks started to stagger him Collette took full advantage by letting rip with huge punches to the body and head.
Tired and hurt, Dennis was on the retreat in round three but still putting out the occasional piece of offense to stay in the fight and ensure that Collette had to maintain full concentration. Collette was really opening up on Dennis at times and only sheer toughness kept him from being put away.
In a neat example of how good cornering can impact a fight, Collette followed instructions to throw a 1-2 followed by a head kick and was rewarded with a knockdown as a result. That earned him a 10-8 round; Dennis beat the count but spent the remainder of the round on the defensive.
The fight went the distance and over to the judges scorecards. The judges gave one round to Dennis and two to Collette, the 10-8 in the final frame resulting in a unanimous decision of 29-27 for Collette on each card.
âI saw he was trying to push the fight and pressure me so I wanted to take his gas away via the body and the legs.â said Collette afterwards. âThat head kick was my goal throughout the fight, I just had to lay the foundations to set it up.â
Collette def. Dennis, Unanimous Decision, 29-27, R3
