On Saturday April 12th, the Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul, Turkey will host something truly extraordinary.
There are 22 fighters on the GLORY 15 ISTANBUL card, split between the ‘Superfight Series’ card and the main event card. They are the best and most exciting kickboxers in the world, the absolute cream of the crop.
Centerpiece of the event is a four-man tournament with the world’s top light-heavyweight (205lb/95kgs) fighters competing over one night for the right to wear the GLORY Light-Heavyweight World Title and a cash prize of $200,000.
Australian bulldozer Nathan ‘Carnage’ Corbett (57-4, 45 KO’s) was on a 27-fight win streak before he lost to Tyrone Spong (90-5, 60 KO’s) at GLORY 11 in Chicago. He fought Spong to a ‘No Contest’ in their first match back in 2009, the result being due to KO’ing him while Spong was under the referee’s protection.
But Spong still considers it to be a KO loss. This Saturday, Corbett will face Gokhan Saki (79-16, 56 KO’s) in the first round of the tournament and if he defeats him, he might be able to get his rematch with Spong and settle their series.
To get past Saki he should constantly put pressure on him and try to cut off the ring. Once he has him in the corner he should try and connect with single hard punches and inside low-kicks to get Saki off balance and out of his rhythm.
Saki is too fast for him to go and exchange combinations. The challenge will be to pressure the super-fast and explosive Saki. He has lightning-fast kicks and punches and doesn’t mind fighting backwards.
Local hero Gokhan Saki will be the fan-favorite in the arena. The man is a national hero and a huge local ticket seller. Everywhere he goes people recognize him and want to take a picture with him.
He is the only athlete on the card sponsored by NIKE, one of the biggest blue chip companies in the world. The ‘Turkish Tyson’ has a big chance of winning the whole tournament. He is the hometown favorite and last year he used that energy when he defeated Daniel Ghita in spectacular fashion.
To defeat Nathan Corbett in the first round of the tournament, I see him using his super-fast long combinations using his hands to set up big low- and high-kicks. When Corbett manages to push him backwards, Saki might even catch him with his signature counter-left hook.
It will be interesting to see Saki fight at light-heavyweight. He is used to fighting the big and heavy guys despite being only 6 feet tall and walking around at 224lbs. For the first time in his career he will face people of his own size.
In the other tournament bracket we will see tough Brazilian newcomer Saulo Cavalari (28-2, 18 KO’s) face ‘King of the Ring’ Tyrone Spong.
Spong needs no introduction. He has been fighting successfully for his entire career but over the last year he has really established himself as one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world. He defeated three-time K-1 champion Remy Bonjasky by KO, won the GLORY 9 New York eight-man tournament and KO'ed his old foe Nathan Corbett at GLORY 11.
If Spong is sharp from the beginning of the fight and doesn’t lose his composure, I see him moving to the finals. He has deadly knees and one-punch knock out power. Besides that he processes information very quickly. If his opponent makes just one mistake it can be over.
Cavalari is a tough young Brazilian who has nothing to lose here. Although he is just 24 years old, he already built an impressive record. He is 18-2 as an amateur and 28-2 as a professional kickboxer. From those 28 professional wins, 20 came by way of knockout. He defeated the highly-ranked Filip Verlinden in GLORY 11 and knocked out veteran Mourad Bouzidi at GLORY 12.
In other words, we shouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be another upset as we saw in the previous GLORY tournaments. His biggest chance versus Tyrone is to go out there aggressive and draw Tyrone into a brawl. The aggressive fighting style suits him and he usually keeps his guard up while attacking.
Most fans are predicting a final between Gokhan Saki and Tyrone Spong, a rematch five years in the making. However, as we have seen before, GLORY kickboxing is unpredictable. In a blink of an eye, tables can be turned.
The only way to find out is watch GLORY 15 live, this Saturday from Istanbul, Turkey. US viewers can catch it on SPIKE TV at 8pm ET and the show airs in over 150 territories worldwide.
Martijn de Jong
