Anderson ‘Braddock Silva
This is a very important tournament for me and I have trained very hard, prepared really well. I trained at the Team Nogueira center in Rio de Janeiro but for this one I was sparring only with big heavyweight strikers, so mainly Ewerton Teixeira and Pedro Rizzo, I didn’t spar with the Nogueira brothers.
Sergey Kharitonov
To prepare for the altitude in Denver we went up to the mountains in Russia and did some training up there. I feel good, I am fit and ready to fight. I’ve been working all aspects of my kickboxing game, a lot of kicks in training as always, though if I am honest yes, I do prefer to use my hands and if I get the knockout it will probably be from my hands.
Errol Zimmerman
I have the most experience in this tournament and I think I am also the most complete fighter so I would say to the other guys, watch out.
The trophy you get if you win this tournament is a replica of the one, which was awarded to [legendary Dutch fighter] Ramon Dekkers in Thailand twenty years ago. My coach was Ramon’s brother so it’s very important to me that I win this trophy and bring it home to our gym where it belongs.
Ben Edwards
Errol has said he’s out for revenge against me because I knocked out his friend and team mate Jamal Ben Saddik [at GLORY 12 NEW YORK] - and that’s fair enough, if he had knocked a friend of mine out I would want to beat him up too. But we will see what happens on the night.
I didn’t come out to Denver early. At home in Australia I’m like 2,500ft above sea level anyway. I think Denver is about 5,000ft so its not a huge difference really. I think I will be fine with the altitude.
Pat Barry
On returning to kickboxing…
It’s like riding a bike. If you don’t ride a bike for a long time, it doesn’t take you long to figure out how you did it. I kickboxed first, since birth I wanted to be Tong Po. I stepped away for a few years and transitioned over to MMA. When I came back to kickboxing I realized I had to make changes to my stance, my punches, my kicking, the entire mentality. It took a little while. Not very long, it was rusty in the beginning but it all came rushing back to me like I had kickboxing downloaded into me like The Matrix.
On GLORY
It is 100 per cent strikes, there is no stalling and the percentage of knockouts in these fights is something ridiculous. The fights get finished. How often do they go the distance? Not very, It’s 100 per cent striking, punching, kicking, knees, guys falling down. Find one person who doesn’t find that attractive to watch. Kickboxing is where it’s at right now.
On the Tournament format
Tournaments are insane. You have to fight, win, go in the back and wait for forty minutes. The adrenaline dump that comes with that is insane. I’ve fought in tournaments where I’ve had a fight, gone in the back and fallen asleep, then they’re waking me up because it’s time for my next fight. To have an adrenaline dump that big, then get yourself up and do it again, you have to be a very particular individual to do that - very highly self-motivated. You need to be willing to go out there and put it on the line and swing for the fences. This is where it’s at.
Zack Mwekassa
Yeah maybe people are underestimating me but Pat Barry has made a big name for himself and I think it is normal that they are giving him the exposure he is getting right now. Exposure is not what I am fighting for. This is a great opportunity for me and Saturday night is going to be a great night.
Marc De Bonte
“I wasn’t able to fight in the tournament because I was injured, but GLORY promised me a title fight when I was ranked #2 so now here I am. At the moment I am sitting at #6 in the division but that’s only because I haven’t been active while the other guys have. It makes me a bit annoyed actually, I see fighters above me that I know I can beat.”
“Nieky Holzken isn’t the absolute #1. He hasn’t fought me yet. He’s actually declined to fight me a couple of times, even before GLORY. Maybe it’s not Holzken, it might be his management. I have beat a lot of opponents that he has beaten, I deliberately challenged them all so that I got in position to challenge him.
“But the fight never happened and so I don’t think he can be called the real #1 right now, until he fights me. [And the #2 ranked ‘Bazooka’ Joe] Valtellini is good but inexperienced. And I don’t think he’s really fought any top guys.”
Karapet Karapetyan
On Marc De Bonte…
“I think he is unpredictable. You must be aware all the time. That makes him dangerous. He has good punches and kicks and a good knee strike. He is a complete fighter.”
“First I must have this fight with De Bonte and we will see how it goes. If I win I would like to get a rematch with Nieky Holzken. I lost the last fight because I had too much emotion, it was a big tournament and I felt the pressure. I want a rematch to show that I can beat him.
“I would also like to fight Joe Valtellini. We have been supposed to fight several times but it keeps having to be cancelled for injuries and things. We have been waiting a long time to fight so it needs to happen soon.”
