Get all the results and analysis from Glory 27 Chicago featuring Artem Levin vs Simon Marcus plus Joe Schilling in action, right here at Bloody Elbow.
The much anticipated Artem Levin vs. Simon Marcus fight ended up being a wild affair with one of the strangest endings I have ever seen in kickboxing. The two men fought a very similar fight to what we saw from them at Glory 21, with a lot of clinching and tit for tat offense. In round 1, Marcus dumped Levin to the outside, and referee Al Wichgers called it a knockdown, giving Marcus a 10-8 round. Levin was visibly frustrated, but it would only go downhill from there. In round 2, Levin was docked a point for clinching, and in round 3 he was penalized a point AGAIN, making it 3 points lost by the referee. An angry Levin refused to fight anymore, telling Wichgers he was done, prompting the disqualification.
In the end, this was a wild affair and a fight that got completely out of control, with Wichgers unable to manage it. A shame Levin’s title reign had to end like this.
Here is what the rest of the show had to offer:
- Dustin Jacoby is one of my favorite stories in all of combat sports right now. After struggling to find a way to win in many fights, he has put it all together to become a very skilled kickboxer. He looked great tonight, knocking out Wayne Barrett for the second time and claiming his spot as the next contender to the Glory Middleweight title. He’ll be the massive underdog in that fight, but I don’t think he’d have it any other way. He’s earned the shot, no doubt. As for his first fight, he was on his way to a solid, workmanlike win over Karl Roberson, but instead of let it play out like that, Jacoby turned it on in the closing minute. He landed a beautiful two punch combo to drop Roberson hard, then a gorgeous Muay Thai knee from the clinch to put him back on the mat and seal the deal, earning the late KO and stamping his ticket to the finals
- For Barrett, what else is there to say? He was 4-0 coming in here, got a win against Robert Thomas in a very conservative fight where neither man looked good, and then was stopped in the finals. He looked better in round 1 against Jacoby, but clearly never got back in it after the late round 1 knockdown. I said at the end of Glory 24 that it seemed like his mental game was his greatest obstacle – I stand by that still.
- Giga Chikadze and Kevin VanNostrand came to throw down, and it was glorious. Right from the opening bell the two men were exchanging at a furious pace. Both are unorthodox strikers with a wide arsenal at their disposal, and the result was a wild, non-stop war filled with the kinds of strikes you don’t often see. Chikadze gets the win (plus showed some great personality in his post-fight interview), but both are clearly the kind of super fun fighters you just want to see in there. In fact, if we can just have these two fight each other on every Glory card, that would be just fine by me.
- In the Superfight Series headliner, Joe Schilling took a relatively easy decision win over Mike Lemaire. Schilling fought a Schilling fight at first, putting on the pressure with combinations that never allowed Lemaire into the fight. As things progressed, the former Glory Middleweight tournament champion, who took the fight on just 12 days notice, was visibly winded, with his hands at his waist. But he was still dangerous, throwing heavy shots, and Lemaire was never able to take advantage of the opening. With that win, Schilling has just one fight left on his Glory contract before he probably leaves permanently for Bellator Kickboxing. Will be very interesting to see who he draws next.
- Maurice Greene was game, and never gave up, but the disparity in skill level between him and Anderson Braddock Silva was just too wide a gulf for him to navigate. Silva pulverized Greene’s legs, scoring two knockdowns and looking on the verge of the always exciting leg kick KO. But Greene never gave up, fighting hard until the final bell. Silva puts himself firmly into the title picture here, and would be a logical choice for the Glory 29 Heavyweight tournament in April.
- Former UFC and Strikeforce fighter Guto Inocente made his Glory debut tonight, and he’ll immediately find himself on Glory highlight reels thanks to his spinning back kick KO of Demoreo Dennis. He set it up perfectly with a spinning kick to the body to drop the defense, then went upstairs. Dennis’s defense were open, Inocente landed perfectly with his heel, and it was lights out. Early KO of the year contender right there. Post-fight, Inocente called out Rico Verhoeven, so you can’t fault his ambition.
- Chicago’s Richard Abraham looked terrific in his Glory debut. He was aggressive, crisp, confident, and landed bombs throughout the fight, thoroughly steamrolling the talented Pawel Jedrzejczyk. Fight could have been stopped in the 2nd, but the ref let it go, and Abraham did not let up. Really good performance, and a great way to debut. Go ahead and add him to your “fighters to watch” list right now.
- Casey Greene took a solid win over Daniel Morales to open the Superfights. Greene was more aggressive, with some nice body kicks, but Morales looked good as well and will hopefully be back in Glory. Some disagreed with the decision – from my ringside view, I thought it was justified.
GLORY 27 RESULTS
Middleweight Title: Simon Marcus def. Artem Levin, DQ, Round 3, 2:55
Finals: Dustin Jacoby def. Wayne Barrett, KO, Round 2, 1:06
Giga Chikadze def. Kevin VanNostrand, Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
Semifinal: Dustin Jacoby def. Karl Roberson, KO, Round 3, 2:56
Semifinal: Wayne Barrett def. Robert Thomas Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3)
SUPERFIGHT SERIES RESULTS
Joe Schilling def. Mike Lemaire, Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3)
Anderson Silva def. Maurice Greene, Unanimous Decision (30-25 x 3)
Guto Inocente def. Demoreo Dennis, KO, Round 1, 0:40
Richard Abraham def. Pawel Jedrzejczyk, Unanimous Decision (30-26 x 3)
Casey Greene def. Daniel Morales, Unanimous Dec (29-28 x 3)