GLORY kickboxing have today announced seven bouts for their upcoming Glory 35 card which takes place at Nice’s Palais Nikaia arena in France on Saturday, November 5, 2016.
In the main event fresh of the heels of his back-and-forth battle with Robin van Roosmalen, reigning GLORY lightweight champion Sittichai Sitsongpeenng (112-29-5, 30 KO) will make the first defence of the title won at Glory 31 against 25-year-old Armenian-Belgian challenger Marat Grigorian (48-9-2, 29 KO). The two met previously at GLORY 28 Paris in March, where the Thai fighter Sittichai won via unanimous decision.
In the co-headline bout, France’s own Zinedine Hameur-Lain (56-13, 35 KO) takes on fellow light heavyweight contender Pavel “The Caiman” Zhuravlev (69-11, 25 KO), representing Ukraine. Following an incredible performance including two knockouts and a tournament win, Hameur-Lain took home both ‘Fighter of the Night’ and ‘Knockout of the Night’ post-fight bonuses at GLORY 32 Virginia in July.
Also on the card will feature a one-night, four-man tournament which features match-ups between Surinamese-Dutch Jahfarr Wilnis (29-7-1, 8 KO) and the returning Mladen “The Scorpion Sting” Brestovac (50-11-1, 33 KO) of Croatia. In the other semifinal match-up will be announced at a later date, finalizing the tournament.
GLORY 35 SuperFight Series will showcase the unification of GLORY’s light heavyweight titles as champion Artem Vakhitov (16-5, 6 KO) and interim champion Zack “The Black Warrior” Mwekassa (15-3, 13 KO) square off for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.
Russia’s Vakhitov was previously scheduled to defend his belt at GLORY 31 Amsterdam in June, but was unable to compete due to injury. Mwekassa replaced Vakhitov on the card, stepping in against Mourad Bouzidi and capturing the interim title via first-round TKO.
Also on the SuperFight Series card, French’s Karim “Le Felin” Benmansour (46-6-2, 22 KO) will battle 23-year-old Dutch prospect Eyevan “Mister Cool” Danenberg (22-4, 11 KO) and the Super Bantamweight Grand Prix continues with a quarterfinal bout between undefeated Amel Dehby (27-0, 11 KO) of France and Korean muay thai champion Ji-Waen Lee (13-2, 3 KO), and Canadian dynamo Josh Jauncey(25-7, 14 KO) welcomes French newcomer Dylan Salvador (55-10-1, 27 KO) to the GLORY ring.
Additional match-ups for GLORY 35 Nice and Glory 35 SuperFight Series will be announced shortly.
Glory 35 Main Card
Lightweight World Title Headline Bout: Sittichai vs. Marat Grigorian
Heavyweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Light Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout: Zinedine Hameur-Lain vs. Pavel Zhuravlev
Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: TBA vs. TBA
Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Jahfarr Wilnis vs. Mladen Brestovac
Glory 35 SuperFight Series
Light Heavyweight Title Unification Bout: Artem Vakhitov vs. Zack Mwekassa
Welterweight Bout: Karim Benmansour vs. Eyevan Danenberg
Super Bantamweight Bout: Amel Dehby vs. Ji-Waen Lee
Lightweight Bout: Josh Jauncey vs. Dylan Salvador
