Serhiy Adamchuk made a big impression at GLORY 22 FRANCE on Friday night when he stepped in on a dayâs notice to face Marat Grigorian, widely considered to be one of the lightweight divisionâs top contenders in waiting. Adamchuk used every trick in his book to win two of three rounds against Grigorian and take a unanimous decision win and, even more impressively, he was fighting above his usual featherweight class of 65kgs/145lbs.
Now the Ukrainian, who trains and fights out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam - home to Badr Hari and Murthel Groenhart among others - is looking forward to debuting in GLORY's featherweight division proper. In his post-fight interviews at GLORY 22 FRANCE he set his sights right at the very top, saying he hoped to fight featherweight champion Gabriel Varga soon.
Adamchuk's arrival in the division adds interest to a weight class which has had some ups and downs in GLORY's history. Peak moments such as the GLORY 8 TOKYO eight-man tournament have contrasted with lulls where there has been little activity due to the departure of Japanese talents such as Masaaki Noiri from the roster.
But now the division is coming alive again. Gabriel Varga and Mosab Amrani had a superb fight for the vacant title at GLORY 20 DUBAI and at GLORY 22 FRANCE we saw both Adamchuk and California's Shane Oblonsky show that they have the potential to emerge as contender material in their own right.
Oblonsky faced the much more experienced Thomas Adamoupoulous on the Superfight Series card in France and had a good showing, eventually outclassing him on the way to a unanimous decision win of his own. He also called for a fight with Gabriel Varga afterwards, having lost to him in the final of the GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES Featherweight Contender Tournament.
Adamchuk fought a clever fight against Grigorian but his tactical movement was interspersed with shots which show he has plenty of power. A fight against somebody like Brazil's Marcus Vinicius would allow Adamchuk to fight in his preferred style and show more of what he is capable of, rather than having to employ a very specific plan to get the win.
For Oblonsky, somebody like the #10-ranked Raz Sarkisjan could be interesting. Oblonsky would retain his reach advantage but would be dealing with a very fast fighter with some of the best hands in the division, making for a tougher challenge than Adamoupoulous presented.
Mosab Amrani remains a top contender, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him matched with Oblonsky or Adamchuk seeing as both are now ranked in the Top 5. We are also waiting to see the debuts of the UK's Kerrith Bhella and Poland's Rafal Dudek, both of whom promise to add new threats to the division.
Varga's first title challenger could well be determined by a new Featherweight Contender Tournament. In that instance you could probably expect to see the line-up consist of Bhella - ranked #2 - plus Amrani, Oblonsky and Adamchuk, though South Korea's Chibin Lim could also get a look-in due to being ranked at #3.
