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GLORY 41
Photo: James Law/GLORY Sports International

GLORY tournaments are often a launching pad for future contenders, and after GLORY 41 in Den Bosch, Netherlands on Saturday, a new one has emerged.

D’Angelo Marshall (16-2), who lost his promotional debut back in January, defeated Anderson Silva (41-17-1) and Mohamed Abdallah (12-2) to win the heavyweight “Contender” tournament inside Brabanthallen Exhibition Centre.

In the final, Marshall came on strong in the beginning of the first and it looked like he was on the verge of picking up his second finish of the evening. However, Silva proved his toughness, and although he was starting to wilt, the Brazilian wouldn’t go down. Marshall looked to be slowing down later on in the fight himself, but he was the better fighter over the course of 15 minutes and out landed Silva en route to a unanimous decision victory. Four judges scored the contest 30-27, with the fourth scoring it 29-28.

That is the second tournament final loss in Silva’s GLORY career. Currently ranked No.9 in the division, Silva has now fought in five GLORY tournaments, advancing to the final twice. His GLORY record falls to 6-8.

In the semi-finals, Marshall dropped Abdallah twice in the opening frame with punches to advance to the tournament final. The end came at 0:48 of the first round.

It was announced during the GLORY 41 ESPN3 broadcast that Marshall will now face Benjamin Adegbuyi at GLORY 43 in New York on July 14.

“I’d like to show the world what I got,” Marshall told Whitney Miller after the bout.

Silva survived an early knockdown in his semi-final bout against Giannis Stoforidis (19-6) and came roaring back with two knockdowns of his own in the second round to pick up the TKO victory. The official time of the stoppage came at 2:26 of round two.

For the second consecutive time, Hesdy Gerges (50-18) didn’t get to fight the man he wanted to, but he turned in a solid performance nonetheless. The Egyptian veteran, now ranked No.6 in the division, cruised to a unanimous decision victory over Tomas Hron (84-18-3). All five judges scored the fight 30-24 in favor of Gerges, who picked up his 50th career victory.

Gerges dropped Hron–a late replacement for the injured Chi Lewis-Parry–twice in the opening round and utilized his forward pressure and low kicks to maintain control throughout the three-round contest. Adding insult to injury, Hron was also docked a point in the second round by referee Paul Nichols for leading with his head.

That’s now two times in a row that a fight between Gerges and Lewis-Parry failed to materialize. The last time was at GLORY 39, when their fight was scrapped at the last minute due to an issue with Lewis-Parry’s gloves.

Silva survived an early knockdown in his semi-final bout against Giannis Stoforidis (19-6) and came roaring back with two knockdowns of his own in the second round to pick up the TKO victory. The official time of the stoppage came at 2:26 of round two.

In featherweight action, Chenglong Zhang (39-5-0), who was making his GLORY debut at GLORY 41, picked up a unanimous decision win over Wilson Sanche Mendes (5-3-1). Zhang scored a pair of knockdowns during the three-round fight, including a huge left high kick in the final frame. Four judges scored the bout 30-25, with the fifth scoring it 29-26.