Dustin Jacoby (4-2, 3 KO’s) has watched with pride as several American fighters have stormed the GLORY ranks to take big wins and start flying the Stars & Stripes in the world’s premier kickboxing league.
Fighters such as Joe Schilling (16-5, 10 KO’s), Wayne Barrett (4-0, 3 KO’s) and Ky Hollenbeck (46-3, 23 KO’s) have blasted their way into the upper-end of the rankings thanks to strong performances and big wins.
The biggest victory for ‘Team USA’ by far has been Schilling’s winning of the Middleweight Championship Tournament in at GLORY 10 LOS ANGELES, beating world-ranked #1 Artem Levin (46-4-1, 33 KO’s) in the process.
Jacoby is so taken with Schilling’s victory that he wants to salute it the best way he knows how - by fighting him and looking to steal that shine.
“First of all, I am really proud of the Americans, the way they have stepped up, the way Joe Schilling stepped up,” he says.
“When it comes to Joe Schilling there is just something about that guy that, I really want to fight him, I want to compete against him. He came into the Middleweight Championship Tournament and won and kind of took over the American ranks.
“I was really happy for him and really proud he did that but now I want to take him out and show that I am better than him. I want to show that I am one of the best American kickboxers signed to GLORY.
“I’ve been in talks with GLORY about a drop to 187 lbs/85 kgs in the future. I enjoy competing at 209 lbs/95 kgs, light-heavyweight, but I feel I can down to 187 lbs and be more dominant, be the champ.
“I walk around at about 215lbs so the cut won’t be difficult. Plus with my background in wrestling and MMA, I am used to making weight cuts and having to shed some pounds.”
The point about weight-cutting is interesting. Jacoby has beaten all the US opposition put in front of him - three by KO, one by decision - but has fallen short against European competition in Michael Duut (38-5, 17 KO’s) and Danyo Ilunga (54-5, 41 KO’s).
European fighters - particularly the Dutch - have dominated the kickboxing scene for decades. Several US fighters are currently challenging that. Sheer skill is one technique they are using but Jacoby thinks that weight-cutting might be another.
“The Europeans are very good at kickboxing. Their style is very effective and if you are fighting a European-style kickboxer you know it is not going to be an easy match,” he says.
“I found that out with Danyo Ilunga. I was bringing the fight to him early on but he slowed me down with leg kicks and kept moving on. I’ve been working a lot on kick defense since then so it was a good learning experience.
“But I was watching GLORY 12 and Ky Hollenbeck, the 155lbs fighter, you could see that he had cut some weight. He was way bigger than the guy he was fighting.
“I think in the next couple of years as GLORY expands and the American presence expands, the weight-cut will become an advantage for the US fighters.
“A lot of us have wrestling backgrounds or train at MMA gyms. Weight-cutting is much more prevalent here. The Europeans are going to have to figure that out and respond to it.
“Actually I trained over in Holland with guys who were at heavyweight and light-heavyweight and I thought that with a better diet and a little cutting, they could easily make one weight-class down.”
The drop to middleweight will take place in 2014. In the meantime, Jacoby is preparing to make his Japanese debut. He faces the Shidokan Karate stylist Makoto Uehara (15-4, 9 KO’s) at GLORY 13 TOKYO on Saturday December 21.
He has been preparing for the bout in Lakewood, Colorado, where he trains at the Factory X facility under the Muay Thai coach Marc Montoya. Spike TV viewers may know Montoya from the recent ‘Fight Master’ series.
Fight fans will also know Jacoby’s main training partner, fellow UFC veteran Chris Camozzi. “Me and Chris Camozzi fought on the first UFC on FOX card in Chicago last year and we stayed in touch ever since,” he says.
“He invited I came out here to Lakewood, Colorado to train with him a bit and I liked it. There’s a really good team out here and in Colorado you are at higher altitude so it is really good for your cardio.”
As for Uehara, Jacoby says he doesn’t know a lot about him. “I know he is a tough guy and he competes at a high level but I have only watched a little bit of tape on him,” he says.
“But fighting in Japan is really a dream come true. The fans over there are unique, a great culture and they really understand and appreciate the art of fighting. I feel blessed - when in my life would I be going to Tokyo, Japan without kickboxing and GLORY? I am really excited about it.”
Japanese fans are not the only ones who appreciate the art of fighting, especially when it comes to GLORY. Feedback from television viewers and audience members in the US and around the world has been almost entirely positive, especially from fight fans who are new to the sport of kickboxing.
“The feedback is amazing. I was talking to Chris Camozzi about it, every time I talk to anyone who has seen GLORY they are super-pumped about it. They love it and they can’t wait for the next one,” says Jacoby.
“And what’s interesting is I have had MMA fighters telling me ‘Man, I want to try that!’. Everybody loves it - it’s two guys going toe-to-toe the entire time. “In MMA sometimes you can look at a card and be like well, this fight will be boring, he’s going to take him down and control him.
“Now, I’m a knowledgeable fight fan, I’ve fought for the UFC, so I understand and appreciate the finer points of the game, the wrestling and the jiu-jitsu and the skill involved. But when it comes to GLORY it is straight stand-up toe-to-toe combat and a lot of big knockouts - everybody out there loves that!”
GLORY 13 TOKYO takes place Saturday December 21 in Tokyo, Japan. The event airs in the US on Spike TV at 9pm ET/9pm PT and will air in the UK on BT Sports.
