Stoyan Koprivlenski (9-1, 5 KO’s) went from tournament underdog to tournament top dog in the space of two standout performances on the GLORY 49 ROTTERDAM card. He took a unanimous decision win over tournament favorite Tyjani Beztati (15-2, 5 KO’s) in the tournament final, scoring a showpiece knockdown along the way. During an exchange in the second round, Koprivlenski sprang into a spinning backfist which landed on Beztati’s jawline and dropped the Team Colosseum for an eight-count. It was the culmination of several minutes of hard fighting in which both traded heavy leather throughout. That knockdown turned out to be pivotal. Even though Beztati beat the count and came back strong - so strong, in fact, that he actually outlanded Koprivlenski in the round - the second round still went on the scorecards as a 10-8 in the Bulgarian’s favor. Beztati needed a knockdown in the third round and went after it, but he had gone the distance in his semi-final fight and was not as a fresh as Koprivlenski, who was often able to make him miss and waste energy. When he did land he was very effective, his right hand in particular being one of the heaviest in the lightweight division, but he couldn’t find the blows he needed in order to even the score. As the seconds ticked away, it became clear Koprivlenski was about to win the tournament. “I watched some of his fights on video and I saw that he was knocked down with a spinning backfist in one of his GLORY fights,” said Koprivlenski backstage afterwards. “So I thought yeah, I will try it myself, why not? And it worked!” Beztati largely dominated his semi-final fight with Niclas Larsen (47-10-2, 25 KO’s), who was the other tournament favorite. It had been assumed before the tournament that whichever of the two won their fight would beat the winner of the other semi-final and thereby the tournament. Larsen, coming off an upset loss to Massaro Glunder in his last GLORY appearance, badly wanted to win the tournament and get back on the title contender track he seemed to be on earlier in the year. But Beztati was able to control distance much of the time and avoid the Dane’s output while landing hard blows of his ownInterestingly both fighters relied mostly on their hands, with kicks being almost an afterthought for most of the fight. Kicks were very much at the forefront of Koprivlenski’s fight though. He met with Maykol Yurk (11-9, 7 KO’s), the Brazilian former featherweight moving up to lightweight for this one after going 1-2 in the GLORY featherweight division. Koprivlenski soon evened up Yurk’s GLORY record for him, scoring a stunning head kick knockout in the first round. Yurk was dropping his hands after throwing punches and Koprivlenski saw that and followed one of Yurk’s left crosses back with a right head kick which wrapped around his neck and ended his night instantly. Stoyan Koprivlenski def. Tyjani Beztati, Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27, 30-26, 30-26) Tyjani Beztti def. Niclas Larsen, Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Stoyan Koprivlenski def. Maykol Yurk, KO, R1
