As part of the GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES event, which airs live on SPIKE TV on Saturday June 21, we present the four-man Featherweight Contender Tournament.
In the first semi-final, Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai (83-21-1, 51 KO’s) faces Gabriel Varga (23-2, 8 KO’s). In the other, Shane ‘The Hurrican’ Oblonsky (8-2) faces Marcus ‘Baiano’ Vinicius (7-2, 2 KO’s).
GLORY operates two kinds of tournament: ‘Contender’ and ‘Championship’. In the former, four rising stars battle it out for the chance to be dubbed ‘The Contender’, which earns them either a title fight or a spot in the next World Championship Tournament.
The latter has the World Championship Title on the line and will crown a champion. Last year’s tournament winners were ‘Tournament Champions’, not actual champions of the weight class.
We were going to have ‘Tournament Champion’ and ‘Division Champion’ but from this year we decided each weight class will have only one belt. So there is no champion at featherweight and whoever wins this Contender Tournament is in a very strong position to win the title belt.
That means when you watch this tournament play out at GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES, there is a good chance you are seeing somebody start on the road to the World Featherweight Championship. These are crucial fights for all four participants.
In the first semi-final we have Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai, the hot new talent from Thailand, versus the accomplished Canadian karate fighter Gabriel Varga.
Due to his experience Varga is the favorite to win the tournament but people are very excited about Yodkhunpon. He is only 19 years old but has been fighting since around nine years old in his native Thailand so he has a lot of experience.
Yodkhunpon debuted at GLORY 15 ISTANBUL earlier this year and won a decision over the high-quality Armenian featherweight Raz Sarkisjan. That victory, plus the fact he has held a top ten position in the official Lumpini Stadium rankings in Thailand, meant he entered the GLORY rankings at #3.
His style is explosive and no-nonsense. His team, Sitmonchai, are famous for an attacking style and Yodkhunpon is no different. He goes forward and has power in all his techniques. The only thing I think is that he needs to learn to start faster - in kickboxing we fight immediately from the opening bell, we do not start slow like in a Muay Thai fight.
Varga has won world championships in karate and kickboxing. He has trained in Shotokan Karate and then switched to Muay Thai in his late teens. He has trained in Thailand so he has familiarity with the Thai style but he is also more experienced in kickboxing than Yodkhunpon is.
At 2-1 in GLORY, the only fighter he has lost to is Yuta Kubo, who was ranked #1 at the time, so there is no shame in that. At lot of people have Varga as the favorite in this tournament and think he can be champion in the future. This is a very interesting match.
In the other semi-final we have a Brazilian versus an American as Marcus ‘Baiano’ Vinicius takes on Shane ‘The Hurricane’ Oblonsky of California.
Oblonsky comes in as the local wild card and has earned a good reputation on the California Muay Thai circuit. He trains under Colin Oyama, who was training Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson while he was with PRIDE FC and was Tito Ortiz’s coach when he won the UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship.
Oblonsky brings some punch power to the ring. He has that explosive style we like to see in GLORY fighters and also the high work-rate that you get with an Oyama fighter. Oblonsky has a big opportunity here both for his own career and to become another breakout fighter for the USA.
Vinicius isn’t the best-known fighter in the division but he does have experience and he went the distance with Mosab Amrani, now ranked #1, at GLORY 8 TOKYO last year. He has well-rounded skills and the famous Brazilian fighting spirit.
I don’t expect either fighter to take a backwards step here. Vinicius has more experience at the world level so people are giving him the advantage but Oblonsky has a lot of potential and people on his side are backing him to go all the way.
Who will make it to the final and, more importantly, who will win? We will find out on Saturday June 21.
Also on the live SPIKE TV card we have the lightweight title shot eliminator with Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie and Ky Hollenbeck of California, plus the US kickboxing debut of Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic as he faces New York’s Jarrell Miller, with Miller looking for revenge.
