GLORY 4 TOKYO AND DREAM 18 NEW YEAR’S EVE DOUBLE-HEADER KICKBOXING AND MMA MEGA-EVENT TREND NO. 1 ON TWITTER WORLDWIDE
TOKYO, Japan (Jan. 3, 2013) – The historic, star-studded GLORY 4 Tokyo – Heavyweight Grand Slam kickboxing and DREAM 18 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight cards that comprised one-night of historic, world-class martial arts fighting action produced by Glory Sports International. were both No. 1 trending topics on Twitter at different stages of the event at Saitama Super Arena on New Year’s Eve, live on GloryWorldSeries.com.
The back-to-back fight cards simultaneously occupied the No. 1 (#Glory4) and No. 2 (#Dream18) positions on Twitter’s worldwide trend list at one point during the event, and for a two-hour stretch, the GLORY (@GLORY_WS) fight card occupied either the No. 1 or No. 2 position on the worldwide trend list. Amongst the markets in which fan engagement for the seven-hour extravaganza was highest on the popular social media platform were The U.S., The U.K., Japan and Brazil.
“We are thrilled with the tremendous level of high-spirited, interaction there was amongst fight fans for this incredible night of world-class kickboxing and MMA competition,” said GLORY CEO Marcus Luer. “New Year’s Eve is traditionally a very busy night of celebration for people worldwide, so the fact that so many were focused on our event that evening is a testimony to how much appreciation and enthusiasm there is for martial arts fighting amongst fans around the globe.”
The unprecedented, double-header event, ‘GSI presents DREAM 18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo - New Year's Eve Special,’ commenced with the stacked, eight-bout DREAM 18 MMA fight card, headlined by a featherweight (145 pounds/66 kilograms) collision in which former No. 1 ranked lightweight (154 pounds/70 kilograms) Tatsuya ‘Crusher’ Kawajiri (32-7-2) of Japan earned a unanimous decision over Judo specialist Michihiro Omigawa (13-13-1) of Japan.
The second portion of the event, the GLORY 4 Tokyo – Heavyweight Grand Slam kickboxing card, featuring the greatest assembly of 16 heavyweight superstars in history for a one-night, single-elimination tournament, saw Karate black belt and world No. 1 ranked Semmy Schilt (43-6, 20 KOs) of the Netherlands defeat four straight opponents - Brice Guidon (28-8, 4 KOs) of France, Rico Verhoeven (38-7-1, 8 KOs) of the Netherlands, Gokhan Saki (79-16, 55 KOs) of the Netherlands and Daniel Ghita (47-8, 36 KOs) of Romania – to capture the tournament championship and the $400,000 grand prize. A total of $600,000 in prize money was awarded during the GLORY 4 Tokyo – Heavyweight Grand Slam card.
The GLORY 4 Tokyo – Heavyweight Grand Slam portion of the event aired on CBS Sports Network in The U.S. on as well as in over 200 other countries across five different continents worldwide. The DREAM 18 MMA card aired on CBS Sports Network on Jan. 1.
For more information, go to www.gloryworldseries.com.
About GLORY:
GLORY World Series (www.gloryworldseries.com) is the world's new premier kickboxing league, producing live events across the globe and offering up to $1,000,000 in prize money to the winners of one-night, 16-man ‘Grand Slam’ tournaments, which are open to only the best fighters in each weight class. The fight series also includes 8-man ‘Slam’ tournaments and events with traditional, single bouts.
With television deals spanning every continent, online live video streaming of all shows and the world's largest online martial arts library, GLORY is one of the world's most widely distributed sporting organizations.
Owned and operated by Glory Sports International (GSI), the organization has offices in the UK, Holland, Tokyo, Malaysia, Singapore and soon in the USA. Its personnel include an unprecedented mix of accomplished entrepreneurs and senior level executives from the diverse worlds of finance, sports marketing, television and martial arts fighting.
Contact:
Mike Afromowitz - press@gloryworldseries.com