“Speed kills,” is the message from young British welterweight Chad ‘2Slick’ Sugden (13-3, 3 KO’s) ahead of his GLORY 23 LAS VEGAS clash with Murthel ‘The Predator’ Groenhart (55-16-3, 31 KO’s).
The two will meet on the Superfight Series section of the Friday, August 7 card.
It will be the biggest fight of Sugden’s career to date. It is also a hugely important fight for Groenhart as it marks his return to the welterweight (170lbs/77kgs) division following a lengthy campaign at lightweight (155lbs/70kgs).
“In GLORY when he has been fighting at 70kgs he struggled with the hand speed and combinations from guys like Robin van Roosmalen and Davit Kiria. He is a big guy for the weight but at 77kgs I think I am faster than he is,” says Sugden.
“Another advantage I see for myself is that I have been quite busy this year already whereas he hasn’t been very active, apart from when he fought Sitthichai at the start of the year and got stopped. So I think he has some rust to shake off and that works in my favor.”
Groenhart has had some big successes down in the lightweight division, the biggest being his winning of the 2012 K-1 MAX tournament, but also suffered some mixed results. After going 1-2 in GLORY’s lightweight division he decided to return to welterweight. Sugden sees it as a smart move and also thinks Groenhart should now make the decision to stick to this weight rather than taking fights in multiple weight classes as he sometimes has in the past.
“He has been struggling to make 70kgs because for that weight he is a big guy. He is taller than me and he has got a big frame, I think 77kgs is much more comfortable for him and I think he will be fitter at that weight as well,” says the Brit.
“He fought Nieky Holzken back in 2012 and had a close fight which could have gone either way. I think he is a better fighter at 77kgs than at 70kgs, although he did win the K-1 MAX at 70kgs a while back.
“Personally, I would never go back to 70kgs now that I have made the transition upwards. I think it is never good to go between weights at all, you need to stay where you are at. And once you have moved up in weight you need to be very careful about moving back down.”
Groenhart debuted at GLORY 2 BRUSSELS with a stoppage win over Marc de Bonte, who would go on to become GLORY’s first welterweight champion. The stoppage came by way of a knee to the jaw, one of Groenhart’s key weapons.
“He is very good with the knee and he is very long, he has range. And when he sees any weakness in the opponent, any sign of hurt, he goes for it very aggressively. He is a typical Mike’s Gym fighter in that regard,” he says.
“At the same time, when he is under pressure I think his defense is quite basic, he just covers up and lifts his knee to check kicks. When you are going in to work up close you have to watch out for his knees, you have to be quite selective about how you attack him.
“He is strong but when I watch that fight with Holzken it looked like Holzken was able to push him around quite easily. I don’t think a rematch would be close. Holzken’s hands are a lot better now, his boxing is way improved. Back then he didn’t have the power that he does now because he had only just moved up from 70kgs himself. If you look at him now he is just demolishing people with his hands.”
Speaking of Holzken, ‘The Natural’ is due to fight for the now-vacant welterweight title in the GLORY 23 main event, following Joe Valtellini vacating the belt as he deals with a health issue. Opposite Holzken will be Raymond ‘Real Deal’ Daniels. The two were finalists in the recent Welterweight Contender Tournament at GLORY 19; Holzken won by way of stoppage.
“I think it’s good to see an American in the mix there but I don’t see Daniels winning it. Over three rounds I expect Holzken to win but over five I think it’s pretty much a definite because he is going to get in on him at some point during that time, you know?” says Sugden.
“Daniels is very quick and very awkward but Holzken has already got the blueprint now and I think he will repeat the win. I can see Daniels being a problem in the first round or two but after that I see Holzken taking over.”
Sugden doesn’t have any interest in talking about how he himself would match up with Holzken or Daniels; all his focus is on the upcoming challenge against Groenhart. The young English fighter concludes by pointing out that, in his opinion, the fight is a no-lose situation for him.
“The fight is a win-win for me either way. Obviously I am going to win the fight anyway but if I didn’t, I have nothing to lose anyway,” he explains. “He is a big name and for me to get a fight like that is great, a win puts me right up there with the big boys. I think my style is going to cause him a lot of problems.”
GLORY 23 LAS VEGAS takes place Friday, August 7 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Aside from the main event the card also features a co-headline heavyweight clash between Heavyweight Qualification Tournament winner Xavier ‘X-Man’ Vigney of California and Daniel ‘The Warrior’ Sam of London, England.
The event airs live in the US on Spike TV at 11pm ET/10pm CT
