(The Ristie vs. Petrosyan KO, set to some appropriately foreboding music.)
Heading into Saturday night’s Glory 12 lightweight tournament, two-time K-1 champion Giorgio Petrosyan was being heralded as “The Floyd Mayweather of Kickboxing.” The comparison was not without merit; Petrosyan was a dynamic, seemingly untouchable striker who was carrying a six year unbeaten streak into his semifinal contest with +650 underdog, Andy Ristie. As a casual kickboxing fan at best, even I was quick to chastise my roommates for having the gall to pick Ristie to win. “I’m here to tell you, that’s not going to happen,” I said, echoing Frank Trigg’s epic assessment of the Fedor vs. Zuluzinho fight, “Giorgio will dispatch this man very quickly.”
Less than ten minutes later, I was dining on a heaping plate of crow.
Giorgio Petrosyan, the Floyd Mayweather of kickboxing, had been knocked out cold in the third round. Even to casual fans of the sport like myself, this was a big deal. In 81 fights, this was the first time the Italian-Armenian had been stopped. The result was just one of many shocking upsets to punctuate the Glory 12: New York card, which also saw former rugby star Ben Edwards score a last-second KO over a gassed Jamal Ben Saddik and Mirko Cro Cop training partner Igor Jurkovic suffer a first round TKO at the hands of relative unknown Jhonata Diniz.
While Ristie was no slouch, to put it bluntly, the savage knockout was the last thing fans were expecting and provided Ristie with a clear edge in the momentum department heading into the finals against #2 ranked Robin Van Roosmalen. A gif of that fight’s finish is after the jump, along with complete GLORY 12 results.
(The Ristie vs. Petrosyan KO, set to some appropriately foreboding music.)
Heading into Saturday night’s Glory 12 lightweight tournament, two-time K-1 champion Giorgio Petrosyan was being heralded as “The Floyd Mayweather of Kickboxing.” The comparison was not without merit; Petrosyan was a dynamic, seemingly untouchable striker who was carrying a six year unbeaten streak into his semifinal contest with +650 underdog, Andy Ristie. As a casual kickboxing fan at best, even I was quick to chastise my roommates for having the gall to pick Ristie to win. “I’m here to tell you, that’s not going to happen,” I said, echoing Frank Trigg’s epic assessment of the Fedor vs. Zuluzinho fight, “Giorgio will dispatch this man very quickly.”
Less than ten minutes later, I was dining on a heaping plate of crow.
Giorgio Petrosyan, the Floyd Mayweather of kickboxing, had been knocked out cold in the third round. Even to casual fans of the sport like myself, this was a big deal. In 81 fights, this was the first time the Italian-Armenian had been stopped. The result was just one of many shocking upsets to punctuate the Glory 12: New York card, which also saw former rugby star Ben Edwards score a last-second KO over a gassed Jamal Ben Saddik and Mirko Cro Cop training partner Igor Jurkovic suffer a first round TKO at the hands of relative unknown Jhonata Diniz.
While Ristie was no slouch, to put it bluntly, the savage knockout was the last thing fans were expecting and provided Ristie with a clear edge in the momentum department heading into the finals against #2 ranked Robin Van Roosmalen. A gif of that fight’s finish is after the jump, along with complete GLORY 12 results.
Andy Ristie. Remember the name.
Glory 12 main card results:
Robin Van Roosmalen def. Davit Kiria via Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
Andy Ristie def. Giorgio Petrosyan via KO (Left Hook) :43 of Round 3
Ky Hollenbeck def. Shemsi Beqiri via Unanimous Decision (30-26 x3)
Ben Edwards def. Jamal Ben Saddik via KO (Punches) 2:52 of Round 3
Wayne Barrett def. Joe Schilling via Unanimous Decision (28-26 x3)
Andy Ristie def. Robin Van Roosmalen via KO (Punch) 1:44 of Round 3
She also happens to be Kenny Florian‘s girlfriend. Seriously. Here’s a picture of them on a red carpet, where Ken-Flo is wearing some sort of weird hipster costume. Here’s a bunch of photos by James Law in which Clark looks absurdly hot and Kenny Florian just looks like Kenny Florian. I’m not trying to knock Kenny’s hustle, I’m just saying…how the hell did this happen?
Check out more of our favorite Clark Gilmer photos in the gallery below, follow her on twitter, and be sure to tune in to GLORY 12 this Saturday, live on Spike TV (9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT).
* As Clark’s bio explains, Ben Affleck** requested Clark by name to play a small featured role in the film.
** “Get me Clawk fehkin’ Gilmuh, arrite? I need this fehkin’ smoke-show for my pitcheh.” — Direct made-up quote from Ben Affleck
She also happens to be Kenny Florian‘s girlfriend. Seriously. Here’s a picture of them on a red carpet, where Ken-Flo is wearing some sort of weird hipster costume. Here’s a bunch of photos by James Law in which Clark looks absurdly hot and Kenny Florian just looks like Kenny Florian. I’m not trying to knock Kenny’s hustle, I’m just saying…how the hell did this happen?
Check out more of our favorite Clark Gilmer photos in the gallery above, follow her on twitter, and be sure to tune in to GLORY 12 this Saturday, live on Spike TV (9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT).
* As Clark’s bio explains, Ben Affleck** requested Clark by name to play a small featured role in the film.
** “Get me Clawk fehkin’ Gilmuh, arrite? I need this fehkin’ smoke-show for my pitcheh.” — Direct made-up quote from Ben Affleck
One of the new GLORY Girls is Alyssa Arce, a 21-year-old Myrtle Beach native who broke out in the modeling world earlier this year when she was named Playboy‘s Miss July 2013*. The half-Honduran beauty played soccer for 15 years, and currently lives in Florida with two cats and three dogs. Get to know her better on Twitter and Facebook, and check out lots more of our favorite Alyssa Arce photos in the gallery below…
One of the new GLORY Girls is Alyssa Arce, a 21-year-old Myrtle Beach native who broke out in the modeling world earlier this year when she was named Playboy‘s Miss July 2013*. The half-Honduran beauty played soccer for 15 years, and currently lives in Florida with two cats and three dogs. Get to know her better on Twitter and Facebook, and check out lots more of our favorite Alyssa Arce photos in the gallery above.
* You know what that means. Hit the “next page” link for some wonderfully NSFW photo highlights on page 2, via Playboy, Terry Richardson, and Carlos Nunez.
Ten-time world champion Tyrone Spong made a name for himself punching and kicking people in the head as a kickboxer but has recently begun to establish a reputation for, well, punching and kicking people in the head in MMA competition. The Dutch striker is 2-0 in MMA but will next compete this Saturday under kickboxing rules at Glory 11 in Hoffman Estates, IL; you can watch the action live on Spike TV starting at 9 p.m. ET. CagePotato sat down with the “King of the Ring” and asked him five questions about his training, legacy, “real Muay Thai”, his upcoming opponent and his future plans.
CagePotato: What made you decide to branch out from kickboxing and start fighting in MMA as well? Was it just a matter of being able to make more money by fighting more and in different sports? And how hard has it been for you, physically and mentally, to balance it all?
Tyrone Spong: For me, being active in different disciplines — it’s a challenge but I enjoy doing that. Of course all pro fighters need to make money but what I’m really trying to do is build a legacy as one of the greatest of all time in combat sports. So far, everything is going well. But the training and fighting so often is hard. It’s hard. The key for me is to have my physical condition up there all the time. So, I always train. Then, once I get a fight, if it’s an MMA fight I focus on that or if it’s a kickboxing fight, I focus on that.
Ten-time world champion Tyrone Spong made a name for himself punching and kicking people in the head as a kickboxer but has recently begun to establish a reputation for, well, punching and kicking people in the head in MMA competition. The Dutch striker is 2-0 in MMA but will next compete this Saturday under kickboxing rules at Glory 11 in Hoffman Estates, IL; you can watch the action live on Spike TV starting at 9 p.m. ET. CagePotato sat down with the “King of the Ring” and asked him five questions about his training, legacy, “real Muay Thai”, his upcoming opponent and his future plans.
CagePotato: What made you decide to branch out from kickboxing and start fighting in MMA as well? Was it just a matter of being able to make more money by fighting more and in different sports? And how hard has it been for you, physically and mentally, to balance it all?
Tyrone Spong: For me, being active in different disciplines — it’s a challenge but I enjoy doing that. Of course all pro fighters need to make money but what I’m really trying to do is build a legacy as one of the greatest of all time in combat sports. So far, everything is going well. But the training and fighting so often is hard. It’s hard. The key for me is to have my physical condition up there all the time. So, I always train. Then, once I get a fight, if it’s an MMA fight I focus on that or if it’s a kickboxing fight, I focus on that.
CP: You fight this weekend in Glory — which has basically replaced K-1 as the biggest kickboxing organization in the world. Some of the very best kickboxers in the world fight there now, but the rules are far from real Muay Thai rules. Extended clinching isn’t allowed and elbows are not allowed, for example. Do you ever wish that the big kickboxing organizations, like K-1 before and Glory now, used real Muay Thai rules?
Spong: Yeah, I grew up training and fighting with those rules. I fought real Muay Thai fights with elbows and everything and did that at the highest level. I’ve been fighting Muay Thai since I was 18. I’ve been in Muay Thai main events since I was 18 years old.
Spong: He’s very strong. Physically strong. And he’s experienced and so is able to put it all together well.
CP: After this fight, what’s next, another MMA fight or another kickboxing fight?
Spong: Well, we have to get through this fight first but I’m actually very active in boxing as well right now and I want to make my pro boxing debut before the year ends.
Remember Lloyd Dobbler? The lovable character portrayed by Jon Cusak in the late 80’s romantic comedy Say Anything? In a notable scene from the cult classic, he was asked by his girlfriend’s father at dinner to talk of his future plans: “So what I’ve been doing lately is kickboxing,” Dobbler said as other family members […]
Remember Lloyd Dobbler? The lovable character portrayed by Jon Cusak in the late 80’s romantic comedy Say Anything? In a notable scene from the cult classic, he was asked by his girlfriend’s father at dinner to talk of his future plans: “So what I’ve been doing lately is kickboxing,” Dobbler said as other family members […]
