The GLORY 42 Lightweight Contender Tournament ended in a civil war between two teammates. Chris 'Bad News' Baya (59-5-1, 34 KO's) faced his close friend and training partner Massaro Glunder and took a split-decision win in what was a difficult fight for both of them, both technically and emotionally.
Glunder's appearance in the final was predicted by nobody, least of all Baya. For one thing, he wasn't even in the tournament until accepting a late-notice offer on the Tuesday evening of fight week following a pull-out.
Second, Glunder usually fights at featherweight. Third, in the semi-finals he was facing a lightweight who was tournament favorite and apparently on course for a title shot. Nobody saw Massaro Glunder coming, least of all Niclas Larsen (46-9-2, 24 KO's).
A Larsen win looked to be a formality. Instead he found himself lying on the canvas in the first round, staring up at the ring lights and wondering what had gone wrong. Larsen's style favors a cleaner, more technical fight, so Glunder went at him the instant the fight started and made it a brawl.
The first knockdown came two minutes into the fight, by way of an overhand right. Larsen looked equal parts rocked and confused as he got off the floor during the referee's count.
Around twenty seconds later he was downed again by a flurry of Glunder punches and this time his return to perpendicularity was accompanied by the referee waving the fight off. Under tournament rules two knockdowns end the fight. Glunder, against all odds, had booked a slot in the final.
Baya's route to the final was via the more linear route of a split-decision win over Anatoly Moiseev (19-3, 5 KO's) of Russia. The two went at each other full-force over three hard-fought rounds. Heavy punches, brutal body kicks and innumerable low kicks were exchanged before the judges sent Baya to the final by a margin of three votes to two.
And so to the final itself. Before the fight both Baya and Glunder had said that it would not be an issue for them to square off against each other if needs be. Possibly neither of them thought it to be a realistic prospect, because when they did end up meeting each other in the final they found it difficult.
Baya and Glunder are good friends. Not only do they train together daily, they also hang out together most days, either downtown or in each other's apartments. Before today the most adversarial aspect of their relationship was PlayStation. Being asked to fight each other turned out to carry more emotional weight than they had cared to admit beforehand.
When they were brought to the center of the ring they tried to stare down but instead broke into wide smiles, the situation still not fully sinking in. The first round was a little tentative as they eased into their new polarities, but then Glunder landed a good heavy shot and suddenly they were just two professional fighters.
The next two rounds were strictly business as they chased the win â forward pressure, punches, kicks, knees. Friendship was put on hold for six more minutes. And they were six close minutes; at the end of three rounds the judges were split on who they felt had won the encounter. Baya edged it.
Afterwards he paid respect to Glunder and acknowledged that it had been a lot harder to face him than he had previously anticipated. GLORY matchmakers had already confirmed that the tournament winner would face Marat Grigorian and Baya relished the prospect. âHe beat a teammate of mine badly some years ago and I want some payback,â he beamed. âLet's do it.â
Chris Baya def. Massaro Glunder, Split-Decision, R3
Massaro Glunder def. Niclas Larsen, TKO, R1 2:18 (Two Knockdowns, Tournament Rule)
Chris Baya def. Anatoly Moiseev, Split-Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
