If you don’t know then I will tell you: I love kickboxing.
GLORY is the premier kickboxing promotion around right now and thus far the events have been amazing. The kickboxing game has been revolutionized, particularly in the Light Heavy and Heavy Weight Realms, and much of this has been due to GLORY’s ability to attract and promote the best of the best.
The next event will be held on April 12th in Istanbul.
The card is as follows:
Main event:
- Robin van Roosmalen (NLD) vs. Marat Grigorian (ARM)
Co-main event:
- Andrei Stoica (ROM) vs. Danyo Ilunga (COD)
Tournament Semi-final #1:
- Tyrone Spong (SUR) vs. Saulo Cavalari (BRA)
Tournament Semi-final #2:
- Gokhan Saki (TUR) vs. Nathan Corbett (AUS
Superfights:
- Brian Collette (USA) vs. Mourad Bouzidi (TUN)
- Jhonata Diniz (BRA) vs. Hesdy Gerges (EGY)
- Filip Verlinden (BEL) vs. Israel Adesanya (NZL)
- Niclas Larsen (DEN) vs. Steve Moxon (AUS)
- Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai (THA) vs. Ras Sarkisjan (ARM)
- Atakan Arslan (TUR) vs. Jonatan Oliveira (BRA)
Gaijinass predicts:
Roosmalen vs Grigorian
Roosmalen. He is not frankly, the most technical fighter and he has a bad habit in that he seems unable to learn from his past mistakes, however he has been busy and well, he’s Robin van Roosmalen isn’t he? Grigorian is covered in ring-rust. He hasn’t been in the big ring since Glory 2 in Brussels and this is a mean, mean way to welcome him back. I think it’ll be a Roosmalen KO in the 2nd or 3rd.
Onto the LHWT Tournament…
Spong vs Cavalari
Sure, we all know Spong is the ludicrous favorite here. No shit. That having been said, I think he is going to utterly humiliate Cavalari. I have gone back and watched a lot of Cavalari’s fights and frankly I’m amazed he is even in the tournament. His technique is bizarre and full of holes. He leads with his chin literally thrusting into the sky and his low kicks look like break dance moves. He seems to be in amazing shape but so is Spong. I give this to Spong, via KO (Left hook or high kick) in the first round which will suck for whoever has to face him in the final because these two…
Saki vs Corbett
Holy shit. How much machismo can one ring possibly accommodate. I am a die-hard fan of both these guys and have been for years. Seeing this fight now: Bitter Sweet.
Both men are amazing fighters and damn fine technicians in their own right. The differences however are paramount and I think could be critical.
I first saw Corbett fight in Titans 2 here in Tokyo in ’05. We fought on the same card; I was covered in gore and dropped a TKO to some Turkish lunatic nobody has heard from since and CARNAGE illegally kicked Noboru Uchida in the head when he was down. I loved it and have been a fan ever since.
Corbett is by trade an elbow man. Hence his name, CARNAGE. He slices, he dices and he leaves a bloody stream of gashed foreheads and cracked orbitals in his wake. This is all well and good, except in GLORY, there are no elbows. Sure, he has obviously adjusted his training. He also has technical hands and good kicks and is always in shape. However the big question is: Has CARNAGE really adopted the pure kickboxing rules/style and left his Muay Thai origins behind? Because to stay meaningful in GLORY, where the big dogs and the bucks are, this is exactly what he will have to do.
Next, while Corbett was biding his time to move to GLORY, Saki has been there all along fighting the baddest mother fuckers alive. He is smooth, fast and fluid. His combinations are staccato spray-n-pray and with a 71% KO ration he’s become adept at rolling out the sleeping bag and tucking his opponents, big and mean and skilled opponents, in for the night. Puff the pillow, zip the bag up, Goodnight. Now, he has dropped to Light Heavy Weight. Dear God….
So the deal breaker/maker is thus: Has Saki lost the weight to move from his 104 (I actually think its more like 108) to 95 in a timely and intelligent fashion? Preserving his stamina or perhaps even enhancing it? Or was he lazy and he is trying to sweat it out now as I type this? If he made weight legitimately, and I hate to say this, then I suspect he will put Corbett away as long as he doesn’t let his ego take over. If not, with that little stamina edge to even the scales, well, we will be seeing some CARNAGE.
