Dylan Salvador is the new GLORY Lightweight Contender. The French Muay Thai stylist defeated Anatoly Moiseev and Hynsi Beqiri in back-to-back fights to win the Lightweight Contender Tournament at GLORY 36 GERMANY and looked impressive while doing so.
Beqiri was his opponent in the finals, the Swiss-Albanian fighter having dominated his semi-final match with Spain's Antonio Gomez. He couldn't do the same to Salvador though as the Frenchman's footwork made him too elusive to be walked down and punished against the ropes.
The fight was a close one though and both fighters did experience successes as the advantage passed back and forth. But Salvador's variety and creativity were markedly higher than Beqiri's and that allowed him to create more opportunities for scoring.
Salvador spent much of the fight moving backwards and letting Beqiri come forward, tagging him as he did so or eluding his attack and ducking out of danger. When Beqiri could pin him down he landed heavily and Salvador definitely felt some of those shots, but they weren't enough to win Beqiri the fight.
The Semi-Finals
Anatoly Moiseev vs. Dylan Salvador
On paper Moiseev looked to be the tournament favorite simply by dint of his greater experience under these rules and in the GLORY ring, but the accomplished Salvador quickly proved his merit. He outfoxed the more linear Moiseev over three rounds, frequently making him swing and miss then countering hard.
A penetrating third-round knee to the body from Salvador drew sympathetic expression of pain from the crowd and was a neat synopsis of the fight, Salvador having opened Moiseev's defenses up with a perfect piece of misdirection. Moiseev wore the signs of battle afterwards, Salvador looked like he had just done a workout.
Hynsi Beqiri vs. Antonio Gomez
The second of the semi-final matches saw Bequiri and Gomez face off, Gomez coming into the tournament on a week's notice to replace Claudiu Badoi of Romania, who had in turn replaced Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai of Thailand.
Gomez fought three game rounds with Beqiri but was on the defensive for most of them and rarely found himself able to move forward or occupy the center of the ring.
Beqiri scored a knockdown in the first round, tried to finish him in the second and only in the third and final round did he let up a little, matching Gomez's workrate. Certain he was headed to the final, he conserved some much-needed energy.
Dylan Salvador def. Anatoly Moiseev, Unanimous Decision, R3 (29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-29)
Hynsi Beqiri def. Antonio Gomez, Unanimous Decision, R3 (30-26, 30-26 29-27 29-27 29-27)
