Tournaments: where a number of contenders are whittled down to one. From the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport to NCAA Basketball's March Madness, tournaments are enthralling events and a spectacle for the viewer.
A rarity within the combat sports space; tournaments are a trademark and cornerstone of GLORY kickboxing. The organization currently stages a tournament on each fight card it produces.
There are two kinds. ‘Contender’ tournaments see the winner emerge with a spot in his weight class’ next World Championship Title tournament, where he may have a chance to win the World Title.
At GLORY 14 Zagreb back in March, rising Brazilian star Alex ‘Po Atan’ Pereira made it past UFC veteran Dustin Jacoby and former European champion Sahak Parparyan to earn a spot in the GLORY 17 LAST MAN STANDING Middleweight Championship Tournament.
In the World Championship Tournaments, the winner walks away with the belt for his division and some of the largest cash prize money available in the sport. Most recently, Gokhan Saki won the Light-Heavyweight title after stopping Nathan Corbett and Tyrone Spong in one night.
GLORY tournaments are the toughest thing in fight sports. Sometimes they are four-man, sometimes eight, and on New Year’s Eve 2012 the organization staged a legendary sixteen-man heavyweight tournament.
That tournament - surely the hardest thing any modern-day fighter has been required to endure - kickboxing legend Semmy Schilt defeated Brice Guidon, Rico Verhoeven and Gokhan Saki then landed a knockout head kick on Daniel Ghita to scoop the grand prize.
Seeing a fighter go through several gruelling fights in one evening is a sight to behold. You’re watching feats of human endurance and seeing new stories being written into the sport’s history books.
Now that you have the basics laid out, let's look at some of the variables that make the GLORY one-night tournament unique and compelling.
Normally in any GLORY fight, if a fighter is knocked down three times in one round or four times in one fight, the fight is ruled a technical knockout. In a tournament that is shortened to two in one round and three overall, making the fighter’s margin of error much slimmer.
In the event of a draw, both fighters will fight in an extra “sudden victory” round to decide who advances or who wins the tournament. When Joe Schilling defeated Artem Levin in the finals of GLORY 10 Los Angeles, it was the extra round that proved decisive - and provided a nail-biting finish for the fans.
Arguably the most interesting element of the tournament is that the best fighter doesn't always win. The underdog's odds become greater for victory due to injuries, stamina and fatigue playing a major role in the latter and final rounds.
One fighter may have to go through a three-round war to advance to the next round or final, while another may earn a knockout victory in the opening minute of the first round, making him the fresher fighter.
Every tournament has reserve bouts as well. In the event of an injury, the winner of the reserve bout will be called up to replace an injured finalist, which means you need to pay attention to the reserve bouts as much as the semi-finals when watching a four-man affair. They can change the entire storyline of an event.
At GLORY 16 Denver, Ben Edwards, Errol Zimmerman, Sergei Kharitonov and Anderson Silva will enter the heavyweight tournament and any one of them can win. If reservists Pat Barry or Zack Mwekassa enter the fray for any reason, so can they.
That's why the tournament is special. Any man can win on any given night. Heart, skill, courage, trickery, intelligence and luck - tournament winners require all these and more. Bookmakers have their favorites, but fortune favors the bold.
by Michael Stets
www.mmaMania.com
