If there was any question about Rico Verhoevenâs dominance of the heavyweight division, Friday nightâs performance answered it and the post-fight rankings update adds further weight.
The young Dutchman defending the World Heavyweight Championship for a second time, shutting out Romanian challenger Benjamin âMr Gentlemanâ Adegbuyi over five rounds of non-stop action.
Verhoeven gains 124 points for the win and now has as many ranking points as his next two challengers combined. He doesnât look likely to be dethroned any time soon but even if he was, he would have total ownership of the #1 contender spot.
The top two contender spots are presently both owned by Romanians, with Daniel Ghita at #1 and Adegbuyi remaining at #2. The #3 spot is occupied by Sergey Kharitonov of Russia, with Errol Zimmerman at #5.
In the eveningâs other heavyweight bout Jamal Ben Saddik returned after a yearâs absence to finish late stand-in opponent Mamoudou Keta in the first round. The win sees his climb one place in the rankings to sit at #13.
In the light-heavyweight division Zack Mwekassa once again demonstrated his devastating power by stopping newcomer Carlos âShake & Bakeâ Brooks in the first round with his trademark left hook. Now 3-1 with three finishes in GLORY, Mwekassa rises to #3 in the rankings.
On the Superfight Series card, veteran campaigners Mourad Bouzidi and Filip Verlinden went to war. With Verlinden ranked high at middleweight he was the favorite to win even though he was moving up in weight for this match.
Bouzidi had other ideas though and pulled out some career-best form to take the win via three rounds of high-tempo powerful output. Now riding a three-fight win streak in GLORY he rises from #8 to #5. Post-fight he talked about wanting a title shot and one more win would surely insert him into the title conversation.
The loss does not affect Verlindenâs middleweight ranking position and he remains in the #4 slot. Post-fight he talked about chasing a title shot of his own and repeated his call-out of Los Angeles contender Joe Schilling.
GLORYâs lightweight division got the biggest shake-up on Friday as the Thai champion Sitthichai made his presence felt immediately. His debut saw him stop former champion Davit Kiria and shut out rising star Josh Jauncey to win the Lightweight Contender Tournament and secure a title shot.
Sitthichai blasted his way into the #1 contender spot in the rankings, rising two places to dislodge previous occupant Andy âThe Machineâ Ristie, who now sits at #2. Below him is Kiria, who drops to #3, and below him at #4 is Jauncey, who rises one place for his win in the tournament semi-final.
The eveningâs biggest surprise was Marat Grigorian. He was expected to secure victory and begin chasing a title shot on his return to GLORY after a lengthy absence. Instead he lost on points to Serhiy Adamchuk, who took the fight on 24 hours notice.
Fighting out of Mikeâs Gym in Amsterdam, Adamchuk usually fights at featherweight, which makes the win a real act of giant-killing. He rises two places in the featherweight division (65kg/145lbs) for the win while Grigorian, adding insult to injury for him, loses points and drops two spots in the lightweight division to #12.
The featherweight division also saw movement thanks to the fight between Shane Oblonsky and the #8 ranked Thomas Adamandopoulos.
The dominant win for Oblonsky sees him rise from #6 to #4. Having come second in the Featherweight Contender Tournament before losing to Gabriel Varga, Oblonsky is chasing a rematch. He called out Varga, now the divisional champion, in his post-fight speech.
And finally at welterweight, debutants Yoann Kongolo and Cedric Doumbe went at it in a highly entertaining fight on the Superfight Series card. The win for Kongolo sees him rise four places from #11 to #7.
