GLORY returns to the airwaves in explosive fashion on Saturday April 12 with GLORY 15 ISTANBUL and the four-man Light-Heavyweight Championship Tournament between Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki, Nathan Corbett and Saulo Cavalari.
This is not only one of the most stacked cards in kickboxing history, it is one of the most stacked in the history of fight sports. All four participants in the Light-Heavyweight (209lbs/95kgs) tournament are champions in their own right, as are the two reservists.
Two fighters will emerge victorious from the Semi-Final stage and will clash in the Final, but only one of them can come away with the ultimate prize. The GLORY World Series Light-Heavyweight Title is on the line - which of these four will claim it?
In the evening’s headline fight, two top-tier lightweight contenders square off.
Robin Van Roosmalen has been in the title mix consistently but has narrowly fallen short in his efforts to take the gold, while Marat Grigorian has had an enforced layoff but is out to remind people why his name also needs to be in the title conversation.
Cor Hemmers, GLORY Matchmaker and Head of Talent Operations, breaks down the GLORY 15 ISTANBUL card, which US viewers can watch on SPIKE TV. The event also airs in over 150 territories worldwide.
Tyrone Spong (90-5-0, 60 KO's) vs. Saulo Cavalari (28-2-0, 18 KO's)
Light-Heavyweight Championship Tournament
Semi-Final I
“Cavalari came in to GLORY as an unknown, then took wins over Filip Verlinden and Mourad Bouzidi to climb the rankings and get himself into this tournament. I think the knockout of Bouzidi was one of the biggest I have ever seen and it got Cavalari a lot of attention.
“Spong is number one in this division and everybody expects to see him in the final. He is powerful, very skilled. He has knocked a lot of top names out.
“But we saw at GLORY 9 how Michael Duut was able to drop him. Spong came back and KO’d Duut, but he can’t afford to let Cavalari land that right hand because he might not get up from that.
“Cavalari has maybe a better defense than Duut, he isn’t so open when he attacks. Spong is the favorite but first he has to beat Cavalari and that isn’t an easy job.”
Gokhan Saki (79-16-0, 56 KO's) vs. Nathan Corbett (59-4-0, 47 KO's)
Light-Heavyweight Championship Tournament
Semi-Final II
“Fans have wanted to see Corbett vs. Saki for a long time and we are very excited to present this fight at last.
“Saki is making his light-heavyweight debut here after fighting at heavyweight until now. Does he lose any power with the weight-cut and does he lose any speed advantage? We will have to wait and see. If he doesn’t then he will be very dangerous.
“He moved to Mike’s Gym over a year ago and we are starting to see some changes in his style, he has moved towards being a puncher looking for the KO shot. Personally, I think that it would be better for him to play a more complete kickboxing game against Corbett.
“Corbett will have to use some speed in this fight. He can win on points or by KO depending how he fights, but he will need to fight intelligently and use his expert timing to throw Saki off. If Saki goes out there looking for the one-punch KO that will play into Corbett’s hands.
“The fight is taking place in Istanbul so Corbett can expect a very hostile crowd, though he has faced that before and it won’t bother him. And does that make an advantage for Saki or is it extra pressure fighting in front of a Turkish arena? It can go either way.
“Like always, it is impossible to predict who will meet in the final. That is why tournaments are always so exciting - any one of these guys can win the championship. It depends who has the best form on the day.”
Danyo Ilunga (54-5-0, 42 KO's) vs. Andrei Stoica (32-5-0, 21 KO's)
Light-Heavyweight Championship Tournament
Tournament Reserve Match
“Ilunga was number one in this category for several years but lately there have been a lot of big names entering the division - we’ve had Tyrone Spong and Gokhan Saki drop down from heavyweight - and Ilunga has found himself displaced to the #3 position.
“Now the Romanian champion Andre Stoica make his GLORY light-heavyweight debut in this fight and it is a real test for both of them. Ilunga is the more established name but Stoica is high-level and ready to make his mark.
“They both have a high-level attacking style and they both fight at a high pace so you can expect this fight to produce some real fireworks. If you’re a UFC fan you might have heard Alexander Gustafsson talking about Stoica recently; he brought Stoica to Sweden for some stand-up sparring practice.
“Ilunga is based in Germany and trains both there and in Amsterdam, where he coached by Remy Bonjasky, so he has the same flying knee attacks we have seen from Bonjasky over the years. So there will be some highlight moments in this fight for sure.”
Robin Van Roosmalen (31-6-0, 19 KO's) vs. Marat Grigorian (36-4-2, 18 KO's)
Lightweight (154lbs/70kgs)
“We last saw Grigorian at GLORY 2 BRUSSELS in October 2012, when he stopped Alex Vogel with a highly skilled and aggressive performance. He had some problems getting a visa after that, which have only just been resolved, which is why we haven’t seen him since.
“He is lower-ranked than Van Roosmalen but he hasn’t been active so we shouldn’t read too much into that. He is a quality fighter with a really nice style and he can definitely be a presence in the lightweight division.
“Van Roosmalen is also very aggressive but that cost him against Andy Ristie at GLORY 12 NEW YORK so in this fight we will see whether has made any adjustments in terms of strategy and tactics.
“Style-wise these two are a good match. Grigorian has good boxing and has a reach advantage so he would do well to try and keep Van Roosmalen on the outside, whereas Van Roosmalen wants to get inside and land those devastating hooks of his.”
