On paper, the fight between Saulo Cavalari and Brian Douwes had the makings of a thrilling war between two hard-hitting light-heavyweights. In the event it was not, but the blame does not like with former champion Cavalari.
After a few hard exchanges in the first round Douwes began clinching constantly and shutting the fight down, securing a body-lock on his Brazilian opponent and waiting for the referee to break them. Moments later he would initiate another clinch, the referee would intervene again, only for the pattern to be repeated again almost immediately.
What could – should – have been an epic battle became a frustrating fight for the crowd and for Cavalari. Late in the second round the crowd began booing – unheard of at GLORY events – and Cavalari lost his temper. He pushed Douwes into a corner and began literally hammering him with low kicks one after another, no setup, no hiding his intentions, not concerned about whether he landed on shin or thigh.
The referee spoke to both corners in the break before the third round – Cavalari had initiated a clinch or two himself, but nowhere near the amount that Douwes had. But the referee's intervention changed nothing. Douwes continued clinching in the third round and finally the referee had enough. Huge boos accompanied Douwes' entry into yet another clinch and the referee called a time-out to deduct Douwes a point, earning probably the biggest cheer of the fight up to that point.
Cavalari continued making spirited efforts to hammer Douwes with strikes, at one point actually running straight at him and trying to flying-kick him. But the fight remained scrappy; Cavalari couldn't find clean blows and the seconds ticked away. The final bell sounded and it was a clear win for Cavalari, though he was visibly not happy with how it came about.
Douwes now drops to 0-2 in GLORY and has earned himself no new fans with this performance. Cavalari and finds himself back in the win column. In his previous outing he lost the light-heavyweight title to Artem Vakhitov of Russia and he wants it back. Tonight's win was the first step on that journey towards another title shot.
Saulo Cavalari def. Brian Douwes, Unanimous Decision, R3 (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
