The GLORY SuperFight Series: Dubai saw a brutal light-heavyweight feature main event between Saulo Cavalari and Artem Vakhitov, where the Brazilian held onto his number one contender status with a split decision win.
Cavalari; who was already the mandatory challenger for Gokhan Saki’s 95kg title, elected to put his spot on the line against 23 year-old Russian prospect Vakhitov. It was a rather close fight, with not much separating both men, but it was the thunderous thigh kicks from Cavalari which helped the judges give him the nod.
Although Cavalari started to get sloppy towards the end of the fight, a tired Vakhitov wasn’t able to land with the devastation we are used to seeing.
Afterwards, Cavalari told Saki to send the belt to Brazil, and a big match up between the pair later this year will be a great bout.
In the 95kg GLORY SuperFight Series co-main event, Mourad Bouzidi showcased one of the most effective kickboxing clinches ever seen. The Tunisian controlled the fight from the first bell, pressuring Dustin Jacoby into the corner where he landed some brutal strikes. The American looked more active in the second round, but time and time again Bouzidi would use his leg kicks and knees within the clinch to score big points.
In kickboxing due to the two second rule inside the clinch it is rare fighters are active when using the tie-up, often used to attain a breather. But Bouzidi; who received a huge reception, used his clinch very well, hurting Jacoby numerous times on his way to a unanimous decision win.
Briton Chi Lewis-Parry’s GLORY debut couldn’t have gone much better. It took “Chopper Chi” just 25 seconds to finish Yong Soo Park, the South Korean immediately covered up, but a well thrown uppercut pierced through Park’s guard, dropping him to the canvas.
After the pullout of Xavier Vigney who was moved to the GLORY 21 heavyweight contender tournament, it seems Lewis-Parry’s replacement wasn’t up to the task, and the next several months will be very interesting to see if GLORY fast track the Brit to the top of the heavyweight division.
Samir Boukhidous defeated Mikhail Chalykh with two devastating right hands in a middleweight contest. A first round blitz by “Click Click Boom” which included two huge right hands were too much for Chalykh, with the referee calling time on the fight after just two minutes.
Chad Sugden looked dominant in his unanimous decision win over Atakan Arslan, utilising his push kick to keep his Turkish opponent at bay. It was a comfortable win for Newark’s Sugden, who landed some nice shots, including a left hook and a right jumping knee on his way to the decision.
The 20 year-old will face Raymond Daniels at GLORY 21 in San Diego, and it will be a true test to see if the efficient Brit can hang with the best in the GLORY welterweight division.
In the opening contest it took Anatoly Moiseev just 38 seconds to defeat Max Baumert, with a low kick, right head kick combination hurting the German, who was unable to continue.
