Saturday is a huge day for Glory, with 3 separate events across multiple platforms. Try to get a handle on all the action here.
This weekend, Glory stages what looks to be a new annual tradition – their big, year-ending PPV. Last year, the event was headlined by Rico Verhoeven vs. Badr Hari, and while this year’s doesn’t quite feature that same punch, it’s still a card worth your time. Here’s a preview of Saturday’s Glory Redemption / Glory 49 Rotterdam.
MAIN EVENT: RICO VERHOEVEN vs. JAMAL BEN SADDIK
The main event sees Glory’s long-reigning Heavyweight champion in action. Verhoeven won the title at Glory’s first PPV event back in 2014. He’s been flawless in Glory since (though does have one 2015 loss in China) with 5 straight title defenses. He’s also developed into arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the sport today. Ben Saddik is one of those wild card kind of fighters. He’s a big man, capable of both knocking you out, and being knocked out. He also brings that Badr Hari element of “what will happen?” to his fights – in 2014 he was DQ’d for attacking a downed Hesdy Gerges, and was suspended for a year. He’s 6-1 since. Really, he’s bringing many of the elements Badr brought last year, just, you know, a bit less.
Adding to the intrigue of the fight (and giving the event its name) is a 2011 match-up between these two. Ben Saddik won that fight, and now the champ looks for, wait for it, Redemption. Somewhat taking away from the intrigue is that after 3 straight non-title fight, this will be Verhoeven’s first defense in 15 months, and it comes against a man who is just 1-0 in 2017, and who has not established himself as the clear top contender. During that 15 month run Ismael Londt, Benjamin Adegbuyi, and D’Angelo Marshall have all won Contender tournaments – none have received their shot. Regardless, this has all the makings of a fireworks kind of fight, and should be an exciting capper to the evening.
REDEMPTION CARD
The rest of the PPV card is a bit short on big name star-power, but it does have two potentially thrilling fights. The co-headline event is a rematch between Michael Duut and Danyo Ilunga. One year ago, those two squared off in Glory’s fight of the year, a four round war that saw Duut emerge victorious. They will look to recreate that magic here. Also included is a Featherweight battle between Muay Thai specialist Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao and Zakaria Zouggary. I see those two matching up very well for an action fight – winner will be the #1 contender for the title.
GLORY 49 SUPERFIGHT SERIES
Just prior to the PPV card will be an event labeled the Glory 49 Superfight Series, airing on Fight Pass. Headlining there is a Middleweight title fight, as new champion Alex Pereira plans to make his first defense. The heavy-hitting Brazilian fighter upset Simon Marcus for the crown in October; now, he faces Yousri Belgaroui. Those two met earlier this year at Glory 40, with Belgaroui emerging victorious. If he can repeat here, he’ll claim the somewhat hot potato Middleweight belt. There are some other big names on this card, including longtime Welterweight king Nieky Holzken in his first non-tournament, non-title Glory fight since way back at Glory 6. A good fight to watch is the Heavyweight battle between Ismael Londt and D’Angelo Marshall – both are powerful men who know how to put an opponent down. That should be a good one.
GLORY 49 ROTTERDAM
Opening the day is the Glory 49 Rotterdam event, live on ESPN3. The main feature there is a Lightweight tournament that includes some decent talent. There’s not exactly a headliner on this show outside of the tournament final, but the other big fight is a potential show-stealer as Christian Baya faces Samo Petje. Baya has won 3 straight in Glory, all against serious competition, while Petje is an Eastern European fighter I have long been hoping to see in Glory. That’s a sleeper fight of the night contender, and good reason to tune in early.
Get the full fight cards for all 3 events below, and join us tomorrow, Saturday, December 9, for a big day of Glory.
GLORY 49 Rotterdam (11:00 a.m. ET, ESPN3)
Lightweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Lightweight Bout: Christian Baya vs. Samo Petje
Welterweight Bout: Omar Moreno vs. Anying Wang
Lightweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: Niclas Larsen vs. Tyjani Beztati
Lightweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Stoyan Koprivlenski vs. Maykol YurkGLORY 49 SuperFight Series (1:30 p.m. ET, Fight Pass)
Middleweight World Title Bout: Alex Pereira vs. Yousri Belgaroui
Heavyweight Bout: Ismael Londt vs. D’Angelo Marshall
Welterweight Bout: Nieky Holzken vs. Alim Nabiyev
Welterweight Bout: Eyevan Danenberg vs. Jamie Bates
Heavyweight Bout: Anderson Silva vs. Brian DouwesGLORY: REDEMPTION (4:00 p.m. ET, PPV on Fight Pass)
Heavyweight World Title Bout: Rico Verhoeven vs. Jamal Ben Saddik
Light Heavyweight Bout: Michael Duut vs. Danyo Ilunga
Featherweight No. 1 Contender Bout: Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao vs. Zakaria Zouggary
Featherweight Bout: Bailey Sugden vs. Chenglong Zhang