Joe âStitch Em Upâ Schilling and Jason Wilnis went to war in the main event of GLORY 24 DENVER, staging a battle which will probably turn out to be a Fight of the Year contender when 2015 comes to a close.
Schilling came out of the gate hard, going right after Wilnis and setting the pace of the fight immediately. Wilnis responded in kind, which meant there was little in the way of a feeling-out period. The fight had a middleweight title shot on the line and both fighters wanted it.
Los Angelesâ Schilling had a height and reach advantage and he set about using it to the fullest with hard push kicks and stiff jabs, looking to sap Wilnisâ energy and keeping him at bay. Wilnis fired back with venom every time Schilling connected, landing some kicks and punches but missing with others as Schilling circled out.
Wilnis tends to employ a tight double arm-cover as his defense. Pre-fight, Schilling had identified that as a potential weakness, citing the channel it left open in the midriff. Sure enough he exploited the route in the fight, finding a home on Wilnisâ torso for his kicks and knees.
The first round was almost entirely Schillingâs and he was ahead going into the second and carrying good momentum. At the midpoint of the round he threw a counter-left as Wilnis went to kick, resulting in Wilnis hitting the canvas and taking a count from the referee, despite his protestations that it was a slip and not a knockdown.
With just over a minute left in the round Schilling was swinging wild in search of the finish when he suddenly took a right hand that staggered him backwards. Two follow-up punches landed clean and had Schilling in trouble for the first time in the fight. The ring ropes probably saved him from suffering a knockdown of his own but he managed to grit it out and keep fighting, answering any doubts anyone had about his chin.
Ten seconds left in the round saw Schilling back in control, with the fight at the range he wanted it. Wilnis came in with a left kick and hit his foot on Schillingâs shin. As soon as he retracted his leg he was looking downwards at his foot, indicating a problem. When the round ended moments later he limped to his corner.
That journey ended up being his final part in the fight. His toe was clearly broken and he couldnât put any weight on his left foot. The fight was waved off and Schilling celebrated ecstatically.
In his post-fight speech, Schilling called out champion Artem Levin and accused the champion of having faked injury to avoid fighting him in Denver. Schilling also said he would like the fight to take place on Decemberâs Amsterdam card.
Joe Schilling def. Jason Wilnis, TKO (injury) R2, 3:00
