The GLORY World Series visits Croatia on Saturday, March 8 for GLORY 14 ZAGREB.
Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic headlines the main event, facing fellow legend Remy Bonjasky.
In the co-headline fight, Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie and Davit Kiria fight for the GLORY World Lightweight Championship Title.
The card also features a four-man Middleweight Contender Tournament, with the winner taking a spot in the upcoming Middleweight World Championship Tournament.
Cor Hemmers. GLORY Matchmaker and Head of Talent Operations, breaks down the matchmaking for the first of the year’s GLORY events.
Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic (22-7, 12 KO’s) vs. Remy Bonjasky (98-12, 36 KO’s)
Heavyweight (209lbs/+95kgs)
This is a rematch of their 2002 meeting. That ended in a win for CroCop by way of referee stoppage. Remy was saying at the Zagreb press conference recently that he thinks that stoppage was premature, though he acknowledges that CroCop was winning.
This is a big legends rematch, two veteran guys with a lot of experience and a lot of tricks to bring to the ring. Since that first fight they actually trained together for a while but as CroCop has already said, inside the ring it is strictly business and there’s no mercy.
CroCop is fighting in his home city so there is a certain pressure there, though he also has all the crowd support.
He is going to want to finish this fight dramatically for them and try to leave no doubts in Remy’s mind about the result. Of course Remy wants revenge for that first result so, there’s a lot on the line here for both men.
Andy Ristie (41-3-1, 21 KO’s) vs. Davit Kiria (21-9, 6 KO’s)
GLORY World Lightweight Championship Title Fight
Ristie had an incredible year in 2013. Nobody could have predicted that he would have beaten Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin Van Roosmalen by knockout, in the same night.
He has a very awkward style, he is tall and is good at using his range but he also has a lot of power and can knock people out with short shots from crazy angles.
Kiria is popular with fans because he always comes forward, he throws technical combinations but he is really aggressive and he has some unusual kicks.
Kiria is somewhat similar to Van Roosmalen in his approach but because of his Ashihara Karate background he has a unique kicking game, which makes him dangerous. There is nobody else at lightweight who kicks like he does, so it will be hard for Ristie to prepare for that.
The winner of this fight will be the GLORY World Lightweight Champion. Ristie goes into the fight as the favorite but Kiria will have a very smart gameplan and is one of the toughest guys in all of kickboxing. This will be an interesting fight.
Sahak Parparyan (40-10-5, 19 KOs) vs. Jason Wilnis (21-3-1, 6 KOs)
Middleweight Contender Tournament: Semi-Final I
These two fighters both come for the knockout so I don’t think this is going to go to a decision.
The big question mark here is how Parparyan has reacted to the loss he suffered to Artem Levin at GLORY 7 MILAN, where he suffered a broken jaw and spent a long time in the hospital.
We have to see how he has recovered, mentally, because sometimes hard losses like that can change a fighter and make him hesitant. If that happens, Wilnis can take advantage and find a way to finish the fight early.
On the other hand if Parparyan is the same fighter he always was then he is going to put the pressure on Wilnis and make a real war of it. Paraparyan is a tough guy so I think we can expect to see him looking to put on a show.
Dustin Jacoby (4-3-0, 3 KOs) vs. Alex Pereira (11-1-0, 8 KOs)
Middleweight Contender Tournament: Semi-Final II
Pereira is a new signing. He is experienced, he’s had some good wins in Brazil where there is a good kickboxing scene.
He also has a professional boxing background and he has good hand-skills and a lot of knockout power.
Jacoby comes from MMA, he is a UFC veteran still making the transition to kickboxing.
It has been interesting to watch his development, from stopping three fighters in one night at the first ‘Road to Glory’ tournament, then suffering some hard losses and training hard to improve his game.
He was competitive with Danyo Ilunga in the Light-Heavyweight tournament at GLORY 9, which was interesting, and he lost his last fight on a close and controversial decision. Recently he has been training with Filip Verlinden and Errol Zimmerman.
Pereira has the most experience and comes from a stand-up background. Jacoby is making his middleweight debut here and hopefully we will see what new skills he has learned. This is a really big test for him. He’s had nothing but tough opponents. Jacoby likes a challenge.
GLORY 14 ZAGREB takes place Saturday, March 8 in Zagreb, Croatia.
The event will air in over 150 territories around the world and will be broadcast to 98 million homes in the USA via SPIKE TV.
