Four of the world's top heavyweight kickboxers are stepping into the ring this Saturday at GLORY 35 NICE to take part in a Heavyweight Contender Tournament which will secure a title shot for the winner.
Benjamin Adegbuyi, Jahfar Wilnis, Hesdy Gerges and Mladen Brestovac are on the starting grid but only one of them can emerge triumphant. They are a closely-matched quartet; although Adegbuyi enjoys favored status due to holding wins over the other three participants, they are all capable of beating each other on any given day.
In the first of the semi-finals, Adegbuyi and Gerges will meet in a rematch of their GLORY 18 OKLAHOMA fight, which Adegbuyi won by decision. The other semi-final has Wilnis rematching Brestovac, who knocked him out at GLORY 14 ZAGREB. Revenge is a theme running strong in this tournament line-up.
Here's what the four fighters are saying ahead of Saturday night's tournament, which forms the centerpiece of GLORY 35 NICE.
Benjamin Adegbuyi (22-4, 14 KO's): “I am definitely going to win this tournament. Not only do I have wins over the other three participants but I also just think I am different, something special compared with them.
“I'm looking to show that I am the better fighter in the heavyweight division. My #2 ranking is not for no reason, I earned it and I have to show that. This is a very important tournament for my career – I had two title shots against Rico and lost, but I think the best is still yet to come.
“Recently I changed gyms, I needed a change, some new training methods and some heavyweight sparring. You are going to laugh but I am training now in the Netherlands with Dennis Krauweel, coach of Rico Verhoeven. It might seem a little bit weird to people but that's how kickboxing is, people are very fair and willing to train with other people, so yeah I've even been sparring with Rico for this tournament!”
Jahfar Wilnis (29-7-1, 7 KO's): “The mission is always the same but this time I am more experienced. He knocked me out in the first fight but this time things are different. I wanted this rematch with Mladen for a long time because it's never nice when somebody knocks you out so yeah, I must set things straight. That was the first time I was ever knocked out but this time will be different. This is payback time.
“Hesdy and Benny, for me it doesn't matter who I face in the final. They are going to have a tough fight and I hope they really do a lot of damage to each other in the semi-finals. I hope they really f—k each other up in that fight, ha!”
Hesdy Gerges (49-17-1, 23 KO's): “I am looking forward to it. I am well-prepared and I am hungry for it. I am really looking forward to making war with these guys. They know when they fight me it will always be war. There is never an easy fight against me.
“I never get hurt in a fight. Sometimes I lose, but they never hurt me or give me eight counts, but I always give them pain. That's the difference between me and them – they don't kick or punch hard enough to do to me what I do to them.”
Mladen Brestovac (49-11-1, 32 KO's): “Our first fight ended in a spectacuar KO and it can be hard to repeat such a thing but I think that I will either score a KO again in the later rounds or win on points. In the other bracket, it's a tought fight but I think probably Adegbuyi wins it. He has had good momentum but Gerges has had some losses recently, so I think that mentally he is probably in a better place.
“For myself, I am going to show people that I belong here. Maybe they don't think that, because they don't see me fight in GLORY so often, but I am going to show them.”
