With a stacked Middleweight Championship Tournament, a main event featuring one of the sport’s top fighters and a series of fights featuring hot talents from around the world, this is truly a night with the best fighters in the world.
Let’s take a look at the big fights and what you should watch for live in Los Angeles.
MAIN EVENT: ROBIN VAN ROOSMALEN (29-5; 5-1 Glory) vs. SHEMSI BEQIRI (72-8; 1-1 Glory)
The night’s main event is a great battle at 70kg as two of the division’s standouts do battle. A few years ago, very few fans knew the name Robin van Roosmalen. Now, he’s one of the best in the world at 70kg.
Starting with his breakout win in the 2011 It’s Showtime Fast & Furious tournament, Roosmalen has been on an incredible roll that has seen him rise up the ranks.
Wins over the likes of Artur Kyshenko, Murat Direkci, Dzhabar Askerov, and Murthel Groenhart have all been very impressive, with his run culminating in a trip to the Glory Lightweight Slam finals last year and a spot as the #2 fighter in the world in the division.
Only one man separates this heavy-handed fighter from the top spot - pound for pound king Giorgio Petrosyan. Petrosyan and Roosmalen did battle in the Slam finals, with Petrosyan coming out on top. Now, Roosmalen is on the hunt for another crack at the sport’s king.
Opponent Beqiri started his career with a solid, if not entirely remarkable, career fighting in Europe for years. But he turned a lot of heads with his victory over Yoshihiro Sato at the inaugural Glory event last year and is now ranked #5 in the division.
He’s coming off a tough split decision loss to Davit Kiria at Glory 3, and needs to prove that the Sato win was the start of his rise to the top, not a one off victory. That’s a tall order against the dangerous Roosmalen, but as he showed against Sato, Beqiri is up to the challenge.
Look for Beqiri’s speed and kicks vs. Roosmalen’s power punches in this clutch Lightweight divisional battle.
MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT:
JOE SCHILLING (14-4; Glory Debut) vs. KENGO SHIMIZU (16-3; 2-0 Glory)
ARTEM LEVIN (45-3-1; 1-0 Glory) vs. JASON WILNIS (19-2-1; 1-0 Glory)
The tournament format is one of the great traditions of kickboxing, and it is alive and well in Glory. This one night, four man tournament will crown a champion in the 85kg Middleweight division and features four fantastic fighters.
The most experienced fighter and the early favorite is the #1 ranked Artem Levin. A former It’s Showtime champion, Levin is a powerful Muay Thai fighter who knows how to use patience to wear his opponents down.
He was on an incredible 3 year, 20+ fight undefeated streak, but lost in March. He’s since bounced back with a nice win at Glory 7. He takes on Jason Wilnis, a Dutch fighter with solid experience from It’s Showtime and a win at Glory 4.
On the other side of the draw you have another strong Muay Thai stylist in US fighter Joe Schilling. Though he is making his Glory debut here, Schilling will bring big fight experience, having previously defeated Muay Thai legend Kaoklai among others.
Schilling has considerably more experience under traditional Muay Thai rules, and will work to bring his Muay Thai style into the Glory format here. He takes on Japan’s Kengo Shimizu.
Shimizu is a former champion in both the RISE and Rebels organizations – two of the top kickboxing organizations in Japan. He comes here after winning the Road to GLORY tournament.
He’s also a disciple of Kyokushin Karate, the favored fighting style of all time greats Semmy Schilt and Andy Hug. He’s the underdog here, but can make a big name for himself by spoiling the hometown fighter’s run.
The easy pick for the finals is Levin vs. Schilling in what would be a fascinating and highly strategic Muay Thai battle. Both Wilnis and Shimizu stand in the dark horse role, though clearly neither man should be ruled out.
Also as part of the tournament is WAYNE BARRETT vs. ROBBY PLOTKIN in the reserve fight. The two US fighters are both 1-0 in Glory and have the potential for a big opportunity here should they make it into the main tournament.
Both are relatively new to the professional scene, though hold good amateur credentials. Adding extra intrigue to this fight is a bit of history – in a previous amateur fight, these two met, with Barrett KOing Plotkin. That should add something personal for both men.
Overall, any fan who likes a little Muay Thai in their kickboxing should make sure to watch this tournament closely.
CO-MAIN EVENT:
 MURTHEL GROENHART (54-15-3; 1-1 Glory) vs. DAVIT KIRIA (20-8; 3-2 Glory)
The co-main event is, like the Roosmalen vs. Beqiri main event, a key battle in the stacked 70kg lightweight division. One on side, you have the reigning K-1 MAX Grand Prix champion Murthel Groenhart.
Now training at the famed Mike’s Gym, Groenhart has really stepped up his game in recent months, fine-tuning all aspects of his kickboxing to become a much more aggressive, KO style fighter. These changes have resulted in great success since, with wins over Mike Zambidis and Artur Kyshenko.
He has the experience advantage here, but that’s nothing new for Davit Kiria. An unfairly overlooked fighter, Kiria has made a career of spoiling the nights of favorites so far in his GLORY run, with wins over Kem Sitsongpeenong and Shemsi Beqiri.
He had a strong run in the inaugural Lightweight Slam, ultimately losing to champion Petrosyan. A karate fighter who trains with Semmy Schilt, Kiria will look to keep his spoiler role alive and take out the GP champ here.
Those are the featured fights, but the Supefights that fill the rest of the card include some major highlights as well. Here are the fights to watch for:
One of the fights I am most excited about is the GLORY Superfight Series fight between ANDY RISTIE (38-3-1; 3-0 Glory) and NICLAS LARSEN (39-6-1; Glory debut). Ristie has quickly established himself as a can’t miss fighter.
His recent string of outstanding performances has proven that he is part of the next generation of talent at 70kg. His gorgeous knee strikes make him a highly entertaining fighters capable of scoring big highlight reel KO’s.
Ristie’s last Glory fight was his KO win over the ultra-tough Albert Kraus. Challenging Ristie here is the debuting Larsen, a young but talented Muay Thai champion out of Denmark.
Like Ristie, Larsen is an aggressive fighter who likes to his unorthodox techniques, particularly knees. Styles make fights, and these two have all the makings of a great one.
Also in the Lightweight division, you also have highly respected veteran ALBERT KRAUS (73-16-3; 2-1 Glory) looking to keep pushing back father time as he faces off with US fighter KY HOLLENBECK (44-3; 1-1 Glory) in another potential barn-burner.
Kraus is one of the most decorated fighters in the history of the division and he’s facing a worthy, formidable opponent here as Hollenbeck brings strong experience to the table.
Look for Kraus to try and use his power and his experience to outclass the American here. Rounding things out at 70kg is the always exciting Japanese fighter HINATA (26-14-1; Glory debut) making his Glory debut against the highly touted French fighter JOHANN FAUVEAU (28-3-1; 1-0 Glory).
Elsewhere on the card is another GLORY Superfight Series fight, this one between Jerome Le Banner’s protégé BRICE GUIDON (28-9; 0-4 Glory) taking on JAHFARR WILNIS (17-3-1; 2-0 Glory).
Guidon is a much better fighter than his winless run in Glory indicates – when you consider that those losses came against Semmy Schilt, Daniel Ghita, and Gokhan Saki, you begin to understand the caliber of fighter Guidon tends to face.
Wilnis stands alongside Daniel Ghita and Peter Aerts as the only men to defeat top-ranked Heavyweight Jamal Ben Saddik, and hopes to remain undefeated in Glory. RANDY BLAKE (31-2; 1-1 Glory), who by all rights should hold a win over Mirko Cro Cop if not for some highly controversial judging, meets BRIAN COLLETTE (19-2; 2-2 Glory) in an all-US battle.
Finally, ALEXANDER STETSURENKO (48-7; Glory debut) faces KARAPET KARAPETYAN (41-8-2; 1-0 Glory) in a 77kg fight, also airing online next week as part of the GLORY Superfight Series.
It’s another big night featuring the world’s best kickboxers, all doing action on US soil. Catch it live in Los Angeles at Glory 10, Saturday September 28.
