With Pat Barry forced to pull out of his GLORY 20 DUBAI appearance due to suffering a hand injury in training, Mourad Bouzidi has a new opponent for Friday April 3.
Dustin ‘The Hayak’ Jacoby - a GLORY veteran who has also competed for Bellator and the UFC - has agreed to step in and face him on three weeks’ notice. The fight will take place on the Superfight Series portion of the card.
“We got the news about Pat's hand and no sooner had we started looking for a replacement than Jacoby was in touch saying he was ready to step up and step in,” says Jon Franklin, GLORY CEO.
“I don't know how he heard about Barry being out so quick but he said he was ready to step up and face Bouzidi on three weeks' notice and that is impressive. That's what a real fighter does and Jacoby is a real fighter.”
Jacoby has made a habit of stepping up into big opportunities on short notice. He first got into GLORY by filling a ‘Road to GLORY’ eight-man tournament spot on 48 hours notice then going on to stop all three of his opponents to win the competition.
More recently he stepped up for Bellator MMA - which also airs in the US on Spike TV - to face Muhammad ‘King Mo’ Lawal on nine days’ notice. He lost the fight but impressed with his gameness and his willingness to accept such a challenge.
“Jacoby has amazing heart to go along with his dynamic skill set. He came in last minute fought his heart out to win that ‘Road to Glory’ event and he has proven every step of the way since then that he takes the hard fights, like challenging ‘King Mo’ basically last-minute,” says Franklin.
“Jacoby never backs down and always goes 110 %. Personally, I am very much looking forward to having him in Dubai - he's always competitive, he's not going all that way just to make up the numbers.
“I think the fact that he is willing to call up and book himself into the fight on three weeks’ notice and travel halfway across the world to have it tells you everything you need to know about where his confidence is at. He is going to be going in there looking to knock Bouzidi out, nothing less.”
GLORY Superfight Series 20 and GLORY 20 DUBAI take place Friday, April 3 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. GLORY 20 DUBAI is headlined by Robin van Roosmalen defending the World Lightweight Championship against Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie.
