Tag: kickboxing

GLORY 16 Highlights: Raymond Daniels’ Incredible Spinning Kick, Pat Barry Gets KTFO’d by Zack Mwekassa

(Props: GloryWorldSeries)

The kickboxing event GLORY 16 went down Saturday night at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado, and has been making headlines for two reasons. First, spin-kick artist Raymond Daniels added another spectacular knockout to his highlight reel when he nailed Francois Ambang with the “two touch” jumping back kick shown above. This one might be tough to beat in the Best Knockout of 2014 Potato Award category.

And in sadder news, UFC heavyweight veteran Pat Barry — whose return to kickboxing was supposed to rejuvenate his fight career — was brutally knocked out cold by Zack Mwekassa in the first round of their match. After the fight, there were reports floating around that Pat Barry vs. Mirko Cro Cop was booked as the headliner of GLORY’s next show on June 21st, which would be kind of insane considering that Pat has been knocked out three times in his last four fights and could probably use a little time off. Luckily, the booking appears to be an unfounded rumor at this point; we’ll update you when we know more.

An extended GIF of the Mwekassa/Barry finishing sequence is after the jump via ZombieProphet, along with full results from the event via MMAMania.


(Props: GloryWorldSeries)

The kickboxing event GLORY 16 went down Saturday night at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado, and has been making headlines for two reasons. First, spin-kick artist Raymond Daniels added another spectacular knockout to his highlight reel when he nailed Francois Ambang with the “two touch” jumping back kick shown above. This one might be tough to beat in the Best Knockout of 2014 Potato Award category.

And in sadder news, UFC heavyweight veteran Pat Barry — whose return to kickboxing was supposed to rejuvenate his fight career — was brutally knocked out cold by Zack Mwekassa in the first round of their match. After the fight, there were reports floating around that Pat Barry vs. Mirko Cro Cop was booked as the headliner of GLORY’s next show on June 21st, which would be kind of insane considering that Pat has been knocked out three times in his last four fights and could probably use a little time off. Luckily, the booking appears to be an unfounded rumor at this point; we’ll update you when we know more.

An extended GIF of the Mwekassa/Barry finishing sequence is after the jump via ZombieProphet, along with full results from the event via MMAMania.

GLORY 16 RESULTS

– Marc De Bonte def Karapet Karapetyan via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)

Heavyweight Tournament Final
Errol Zimmerman def Anderson Silva (not that one, the other one) via TKO RD 1 2:30

– Zack Mwekassa def Pat Barry via KO RD 1 2:33

Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Finals
– Anderson Silva def Sergei Kharitonov via unanimous decision (29-27,29-27,29-27)
– Errol Zimmerman def. Ben Edwards via TKO RD 1 2:50

– Benjamin Adegbuyi def Daniel Sam via KO RD 2 2:59
– Artem Levin def Robert Thomas via unanimous decision (29-27,29-27,29-27)
– Jamal Ben Saddik def Nicolas Wamba via TKO RD 1 1:24
– Artem Vakhitov def Igor Jurkovic via unanimous decision (30-26,29-27,29-27)
– Raymond Daniels def Francois Ambang via KO Rd 1 1:47
– Josh Jauncey def Warren Stevelmans via unanimous decision in sudden victory RD (10-8, 10-8, 10-8)

Glory 14 Results: Bonjasky Edges Cro Cop in Swan Song, Kiria Shocks Ristie With Come-From-Behind KO

(Cro Cop vs. Bonjasky highlights via Youtube user ElGunner Bosnia.)

In a weekend that had already featured relatively solid fight cards from both Bellator and the UFC, Glory kickboxing returned with Glory 14: Zagreb and arguably stole the show.

Don’t get us wrong, the main event “legends” fight between Mirko Cro Cop and Remy Bonjasky — who was fighting his final bout — was a thoroughly underwhelming affair. Cro Cop looked sluggish and uninterested throughout the three round scrap, and the closest Bonjasky ever came to showing flashes of his old “Flying Gentleman” self was when Cro Cop would occasionally send him toppling to the canvas via a push or an outright takedown attempt.

At this point, my decision to watch and/or cover Cro Cop’s never-ending trudge to true retirement is veering into masochistic territory. The PRIDE legend has looked “worn out” since at least 2009, and as is the case with many fighters of his status, I am repeatedly left wondering why he can’t simply hang up the gloves with his legacy somewhat intact already. But I’ll say it again: Retire, Mirko. Retire for good and stop breaking my heart.

But a subpar main event could do little to tarnish what was an incredibly strong night of fights on Glory’s part. The inaugural lightweight championship fight between Andy Ristie — who captured the tournament championship with stunning back-to-back KO’s of Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin Van Roosmalen at Glory 12 — and David Kiria, for instance, featured one of the most improbable come-from-behind victories of all time, so join us after the jump for a full video of Ristie-Kiria and the full list of Glory 14 results.


(Cro Cop vs. Bonjasky highlights via Youtube user ElGunner Bosnia.)

In a weekend that had already featured relatively solid fight cards from both Bellator and the UFC, Glory kickboxing returned with Glory 14: Zagreb and arguably stole the show.

Don’t get us wrong, the main event “legends” fight between Mirko Cro Cop and Remy Bonjasky — who was fighting his final bout — was a thoroughly underwhelming affair. Cro Cop looked sluggish and uninterested throughout the three round scrap, and the closest Bonjasky ever came to showing flashes of his old “Flying Gentleman” self was when Cro Cop would occasionally send him toppling to the canvas via a push or an outright takedown attempt.

At this point, my decision to watch and/or cover Cro Cop’s never-ending trudge to true retirement is veering into masochistic territory. The PRIDE legend has looked “worn out” since at least 2009, and as is the case with many fighters of his status, I am repeatedly left wondering why he can’t simply hang up the gloves with his legacy somewhat intact already. But I’ll say it again: Retire, Mirko. Retire for good and stop breaking my heart.

But a subpar main event could do little to tarnish what was an incredibly strong night of fights on Glory’s part. The inaugural lightweight championship fight between Andy Ristie — who captured the tournament championship with stunning back-to-back KO’s of Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin Van Roosmalen at Glory 12 — and David Kiria, for instance, featured one of the most improbable come-from-behind victories of all time, so join us after the jump for a full video of Ristie-Kiria and the full list of Glory 14 results.

Filling in as a late replacement opponent for the injured Ky Hollenbeck, Kiria was outgunned from the start against Ristie and was nearly finished by a vicious knee in the second round. It was a rather one-sided affair, but Kiria would simply not go away. Midway through the fifth and final round, the Georgian’s right hand finally managed to find a home, wobbling Ristie and forcing a standing eight count. Although Ristie was clearly out on his feet following the first knockdown that came moments, the ref allowed him to try and survive the round.

Unfortunately for Ristie, the last minute of the fight might as well have been an eternity, as Kiria swarmed Risitie with power punches, dropping and finishing him via a left uppercut with just 38 seconds left in the round.

It was a ridiculous comeback victory to say the least, made all the more memorable in the moments afterward, during which Kiria broke down with joy at his improbable title win.

And in slightly less inspiring news, former UFC fighter turned improbable Road to Glory tournament winner Dustin Jacoby was steamrolled by Alex Pereira in two minutes. It was…tough to watch.

Full Glory 14 Results

Main card
Remy Bonjasky def. Mirko Cro Cop via majority decision
Alex Pereira def. Sahak Parparyan via majority decision (MW tourney final)
Davit Kiria def. Andy Ristie via fifth-round KO (2:22) (Lightweight championship)
Sahak Parparyan def. Jason Wilnis via split decision
Alex Pereira def. Dustin Jacoby via first-round KO (2:00)

Superfight series
Igor Jurkovic def. Michael Duut via first-round TKO (1:14)
Murthel Groenhart def. Teo Mikelic via first-round TKO (3:00)
Karapet Karapetyan def. Artur Kyshenko via unanimous decision
Mladen Brestovac def. Jahfarr Wilnis via first-round TKO (1:19)
Benjamin Adegbuyi def. Dmytro Bezus via second-round TKO (1:53)
Aikpracha Meenayothin def. Albert Kraus via split decision

Undercard
Tomas Hron def. Kirk Krouba via unanimous decision
Mladen Kujundzic def. Elmir Mehic via second-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage, 3;00)
Samo Petje def. Lirim Ahmeti via second-round TKO

–J. Jones

Pat Barry Returns to Kickboxing, Slated to Make GLORY Debut in May [UPDATED]

(Pat Barry vs. Gary Goodridge at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 Quarterfinals in Hawaii, just because.)

Less than a week after announcing his indefinite hiatus from MMA, former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry has revealed his next move — he’ll be competing as a kickboxer again, beginning next month. Barry, who confirmed the news with Ariel Helwani on today’s installment of The MMA Hour, explained that something was missing in his last UFC fights, specifically a love for the ground game. And so, he wants to return to his standup roots, and (I quote) “let’s see who has the biggest nuts in the ring.”

Barry’s return to kickboxing officially begins March 22nd, where he’ll be competing at the WKA North American Championships in Richmond, Virginia, against an opponent to be named later. (Update: MiddleEasy reports that it’s a dude named Ed Burris.) Barry has also signed a two-fight deal with the GLORY kickboxing league, and will likely make his debut in May (date/venue/opponent all TBD). Though GLORY is arguably the highest-profile kickboxing promotion that runs shows in the U.S., Barry would automatically become the most famous American star on its roster — a mutually fortuitous situation, you could say.

Since GLORY’s heavyweight division has become a bullpen for old K-1 stars — with Semmy Schilt, Jerome Le Banner, Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts, Ewerton Teixeira, and even Mirko Cro Cop among them — there’s no shortage of headlining matchups that Barry could find himself in this year and beyond. He’s excited, we’re excited, and we’ll update you when we hear more details.


(Pat Barry vs. Gary Goodridge at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 Quarterfinals in Hawaii, just because.)

Less than a week after announcing his indefinite hiatus from MMA, former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry has revealed his next move — he’ll be competing as a kickboxer again, beginning next month. Barry, who confirmed the news with Ariel Helwani on today’s installment of The MMA Hour, explained that something was missing in his last UFC fights, specifically a love for the ground game. And so, he wants to return to his standup roots, and (I quote) “let’s see who has the biggest nuts in the ring.”

Barry’s return to kickboxing officially begins March 22nd, where he’ll be competing at the WKA North American Championships in Richmond, Virginia, against an opponent to be named later. (Update: MiddleEasy reports that it’s a dude named Ed Burris.) Barry has also signed a two-fight deal with the GLORY kickboxing league, and will likely make his debut in May (date/venue/opponent all TBD). Though GLORY is arguably the highest-profile kickboxing promotion that runs shows in the U.S., Barry would automatically become the most famous American star on its roster — a mutually fortuitous situation, you could say.

Since GLORY’s heavyweight division has become a bullpen for old K-1 stars — with Semmy Schilt, Jerome Le Banner, Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts, Ewerton Teixeira, and even Mirko Cro Cop among them — there’s no shortage of headlining matchups that Barry could find himself in this year and beyond. He’s excited, we’re excited, and we’ll update you when we hear more details.

So Some Pretty Incredible Shit Went Down at Glory 12 This Past Weekend [VIDEO]

(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

–J. Jones

Legend 2 Mini-Recap: A Neck Crank? A F*CKING NECK CRANK?!!

(“He got Mark Coleman’d,” indeed. Video via whatever Youtube channel this is.) 

Remember how we said the guy who replaced Aleks Emelianenko against Mirko Crop Cop at Legends 2 probably stood a better chance of defeating the Croatian than Emelianenko did? Well consider this the saddest “we told you so” in CagePotato history. And quite possibly the first.

It’s been a strange journey for Mirko Cro Cop ever since he “retired” from the sport at UFC 137: he’s broken a CP ban, armbarred a sumo wrestler in his MMA return, and somewhat surprisingly won a K1 Grand Prix. Why a legend like Cro Cop — who has admitted to being “worn out” for years now — feels the need to continue competing is beyond us, and honestly, we’re past the point of arguing about it. It’s not like he’s been getting brutally, repeatedly KO’d or anything, and besides, we were still peeing our pants with excitement when his rematch with Emelianenko was announced.

But after watching his fight with Alexey Oleinik at Legend 2 last Friday, we think it’s safe to assume that Mirko has officially entered the “Money Up Front” phase of his MMA career.


(“He got Mark Coleman’d,” indeed. Video via whatever Youtube channel this is.) 

Remember how we said the guy who replaced Aleks Emelianenko against Mirko Crop Cop at Legends 2 probably stood a better chance of defeating the Croatian than Emelianenko did? Well consider this the saddest “we told you so” in CagePotato history. And quite possibly the first.

It’s been a strange journey for Mirko Cro Cop ever since he “retired” from the sport at UFC 137: he’s broken a CP ban, armbarred a sumo wrestler in his MMA return, and somewhat surprisingly won a K1 Grand Prix. Why a legend like Cro Cop — who has admitted to being “worn out” for years now — feels the need to continue competing is beyond us, and honestly, we’re past the point of arguing about it. It’s not like he’s been getting brutally, repeatedly KO’d or anything, and besides, we were still peeing our pants with excitement when his rematch with Emelianenko was announced.

But after watching his fight with Alexey Oleinik at Legend 2 last Friday, we think it’s safe to assume that Mirko has officially entered the “Money Up Front” phase of his MMA career.

Sure, it’s not like Mirko showed up at 300+ pounds or anything, and it’s not like he was fighting a scrub. But a neck crank? A F*CKING NECK CRANK?!

I say this as one of the biggest Cro Cop fans out there: Retire, Mirko. Retire for good and stop breaking my heart.

Elsewhere on the Legend card, UFC castaway Paul Daley saw a four fight win streak snapped via unanimous decision at the hands of Alexander “Bad Boy” Yakovlev, a 20-4 Russian who is now 21-4 (I dunno, that’s all I got). While Daley dominated many of the standup exchanges in typical fashion, his achilles heel of wrestling was once again exposed by Yakovlev, who mixed up some takedowns and decent ground-n-pound attacks to neutralize Daley for the majority of the fight.

In the kickboxing realm, Badr Hari picked up a unanimous decision victory over Alexey Ignashov in a K-1 Superfight that was as sloppy at times as it was enjoyable. Here’s a gif of Ignashov just missing a head kick in what looks like a poorly choreographed, B-movie fight scene (via Zombie Prophet).

And finally in people you’ve heard of who fought at this event, Melvin Manhoef was routed by Zabit Samedov en route to a unanimous decision loss in a 205 lb. K-1 sem-final tournament bout. Unfortunately, Samedov was not able to continue in the tournament due to a cut suffered during the fight and was replaced by Agron Preteni. It just goes to show that Melvin Manhoef’s legs are a threat to every living creature on this earth.

We’ve thrown a full video of the fight below. Enjoy.

–J. Jones

VIDEO: CagePotato Writer Elias Cepeda Gets Gut-Shotted by Pro Kickboxer at Glory 11 Open Workouts

(Props: YouTube.com/CagePotato)

CagePotato was in Chicago Thursday afternoon for the Glory 11 open workouts. We saw main eventers Tyrone Spong and Nathan Corbett murder some pads as well as a number of other world-class kickboxers in the Glory heavyweight tournament and on the undercard work out.

Unfortunately for this writer, I forgot to bring donuts in to the CagePotato office on my designated day last month so our leader Ben Goldstein had to think of a fitting punishment. Sparring with a pro kickboxer was what he came up with.

Originally Glory’s PR team said they’d try to get newly crowned middleweight champ and KO artist Joe Schilling to knock me around for a bit, but he was still a bit sore from his last win in late September. Kru Paul Mihas out of Toronto’s Ultimate Martial Arts was in the house because he has two fighters on the Glory 11 card and he offered to let another of his guys punch me for a round.

Matt Speciale took a break from warming up his two teammates who are fighting today to school me during some “timing sparring.” The idea behind timing sparring is to throw shots at well under half power just to be able to work on distance and timing without banging up one another too badly.


(Props: YouTube.com/CagePotato)

CagePotato was in Chicago Thursday afternoon for the Glory 11 open workouts. We saw main eventers Tyrone Spong and Nathan Corbett murder some pads as well as a number of other world-class kickboxers in the Glory heavyweight tournament and on the undercard work out.

Unfortunately for this writer, I forgot to bring donuts in to the CagePotato office on my designated day last month so our leader Ben Goldstein had to think of a fitting punishment. Sparring with a pro kickboxer was what he came up with.

Originally Glory’s PR team said they’d try to get newly crowned middleweight champ and KO artist Joe Schilling to knock me around for a bit, but he was still a bit sore from his last win in late September. Kru Paul Mihas out of Toronto’s Ultimate Martial Arts was in the house because he has two fighters on the Glory 11 card and he offered to let another of his guys punch me for a round.

Matt Speciale took a break from warming up his two teammates who are fighting today to school me during some “timing sparring.” The idea behind timing sparring is to throw shots at well under half power just to be able to work on distance and timing without banging up one another too badly.

In this particular case, the idea was for me to survive more than sixty seconds with my head still attached to my body. So, Speciale went at about 10% power and…his shots still hurt. Once nice straight left from the south paw followed by a body shot were all I needed to say, ‘thank you and good day.’

So, check out the video above and watch me get hit a couple times — if you’re into that type of thing. This, is what happens when you piss off your boss at CP.

– Elias Cepeda