By Andreas Georgiou
Benjamin Adegbuyi has set his sights on a heavyweight title shot, as he make his third promotional appearance at GLORY 18 in the Superfight Series against Hesdy Gerges which takes place in Oklahoma on November 7th.
The Romanian kickboxer made himself heard in his first two GLORY appearances, dismantling both Dmytro Bezus and Daniel Sam in the second round of their respective fights.
“It was very important [to beat them] because as you can see I moved up in the rankings and I confirmed that I was a good signing. I can now focus on how to become champion.”
Now ranked the sixth best Heavyweight in GLORY, Adegbuyi takes on fifth ranked Hesdy Gerges who is currently on a three-fight win streak.
“I respect him a lot, he is one of the best fighters in the world, I’m happy every time I have to face a good opponent.”
He added: “He is an experienced fighter, but I also had other tough fights in my career where I was the underdog, but I always do it.”
Adegbuyi and Gerges will headline the GLORY 18 undercard, known as the Superfight Series, which will be syndicated internationally.
Despite this, the Romanian showed little annoyance in the matter: “The only thing different is that the main card is live on Spike TV and the US fans can get to know you and follow you more.”
With a potential heavyweight title shot in the balance, The Respect Gym fighter weighed in on current champion Rico Verhoeven.
“He’s a nice guy, like you said he’s the champion,” said Adegbuyi “he’s a very smart guy with a very good corner and a strategy very well prepared, but he can be beaten.”
Verhoeven, who beat Daniel Ghita at the Last Man Standing PPV back in June to become champion, noted Adegbuyi as a future title contender, something the 29 year-old looks to cement.
“It’s nice to see that the current champion like and think I’m a talented guy. Not just because I love to do this kickboxing, it’s my life now, but yes I’m doing a lot of sacrifices like other fighters to stay focused on what I have in mind.”
With New York’s Wayne Barrett fighting Jason Wilnis on the main card, Adegbuyi explained the difference between European and American kickboxing styles:
“It’s not a very big difference because we do the same things but different ways. American style is to move a lot, score and take the points and Europeans like to stay there and throw kicks and punches and counter more.”
The Romanian powerhouse will face one of the toughest tests of his career in Oklahoma, but insists he will fight anyone on his way up the 95+kg division.
“I think the goal of this fight is moving up closer to the title shot.” He added “I’m not looking to fight someone in particular I only want to get to the top and I will fight anyone to be the champion.”
Photo Credit: Glory World Series
