GLORY’s middleweight division (187lbs/85kgs) will be shaken by a gigantic earthquake after the GLORY: LAST MAN STANDING Middleweight Championship Tournament on Saturday June 21.
The event, which takes place in Los Angeles, California, features eight of the Top Ten middleweights fighting it out in a one-night tournament for the right to be crowned champion.
As only one can win, that means seven will suffer losses. Fortunes will rise and fall as the tournament plays out, so expect a lot of movement in the rankings after the tournament.
In the meantime, some small movements have occurred with the addition of two new fighters to the division ahead of the June 21 event. Simon ‘Bad Bwoy’ Marcus (39-0-1, 34 KO’s) and Melvin ‘No Mercy’ Manhoef (47-11-0, 37 KO’s) are both debuting for GLORY in the LAST MAN STANDING grand prix.
Cor Hemmers, GLORY matchmaker and Head of Talent Operations, explains where the newcomers have been ranked and the reasoning behind the placements.
“Simon Marcus is a very accomplished Muay Thai fighter and has been a dominant force in that division. In fights under Muay Thai rules he has wins over Joe Schilling, Artem Levin, Artem Vakhitov and Filip Verlinden,” he says.
“At the same time this is his first time fighting under the Unified Rules of Kickboxing as used by GLORY. It requires fighters to be faster and more explosive. Also the clinching is very limited and Marcus uses the clinch a lot in Muay Thai.
“So with all of that in mind, we put him in at #5 and Sahak Parparyan moves down one place to #6. It would not have been right to rank him any higher than that. Marcus is a top talent but the top four in the GLORY ranks are proven elite under these rules. Now let’s see how Marcus does.
Then we have the legend Melvin Manhoef. He comes in at #8 and replaces the Japanese fighter Kenzo Shimizu, who is on hiatus for the present moment. Manhoef takes his spot and it doesn’t take a lot of explanation to see why we have him here.
“Manhoef has been fighting at the top level for his whole career and he has KO’d guys like Mark Hunt and Ruslan Karaev so I think he deserves a spot in the Top Ten. I think he fits in well between Jason Wilnis at #9 and Alex Pereira at #7.”
The addition of Marcus to the rankings (Manhoef being a straight switch for Shimizu) means that a number of fighters are pushed down by one place. For example Bogdan Stoica, also taking part in the tournament, drops from #9 to #10.
GLORY: LAST MAN STANDING takes place Saturday June 21 and airs across the USA on pay-per-view priced at $34.95. As well as the Middleweight Championship Tournament it features a Heavyweight Championship fight and a Welterweight Championship title defense.
It will be preceded by GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES, airing live and free in the US on SPIKE TV. The show features a four-man Featherweight Contender Tournament and American heavyweight Jarrell Miller looking to take his revenge on Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic.
