GLORY 19: Virginia marks the return of the premier kickboxing promotion in 2015, as Rico Verhoeven defends his heavyweight championship against Errol Zimmerman in a rubber match. Also a new welterweight number one contender will be crowned.
Rico Verhoeven vs Errol Zimmerman (III fight)
We all love trilogies, Georges St-Pierre vs Matt Hughes, Arturo Gatti vs Mickey Ward and Daniel Ghita vs Gokhan Saki, three trilogies from three different sports, equally as epic. GLORY 19 will potentially see a new match enter that bracket, as Verhoeven clashes with Zimmerman for the third time.
It’s one a piece thus far, with Zimmerman scoring a first round KO win at It’s Showtime 2012, and “The Prince of Kickboxing” levelling the scores with a decision victory at GLORY 9 a year and a half later.
Verhoeven is making his return after a unanimous decision loss to Andrei Gerasimchuk at Kunlun Fight 15 in January. A very sluggish Verhoeven was unable to land with much success against the cleaner Gerasimchuk, who scored a left hook knockdown at the end of round two.
The challenger Zimmerman, makes his first appearance since May, 2014 at GLORY 16, where he defeated Nathan Corbett and Anderson “Braddock” Silva to win the heavyweight contender tournament.
The overall hype for GLORY 19; including the Mike Tyson packages, has felt slightly underwhelming, and that may be to do with the fact Verhoeven is coming into this huge title fight on a loss. Or even maybe the fact that the event was postponed for two months back in December.
If the champion fights like he did back in January, “The Bonecrusher” is going to give him heaps of trouble. Zimmerman is the kind of fighter who pushes from the get go, and unless Verhoeven uses his technical pace to slow him down it could be a quick finish to the fight. Verhoeven should retain if he reverts to his performances in wins against Ghita and Peter Aerts back in 2013.
Stitch ‘Em Up is back!
Joe Schilling who will face Robert Thomas in the co-main event of GLORY 19. Schilling is billed as the face of the promotion, and with his cameo over in Bellator and training relationship with the Diaz brothers, he is hot sauce right now. Expect him to beat Thomas, with this “tune-up” just preparation for a huge rubber match against champion Artem Levin in the Summer.
GLORY 19 welterweight contender tournament
It’s Nieky Holzken’s to lose right? He faces off against Alexander Stetsurenko in the first semi-final, who is Holzken’s third opponent change after Artur Kyshenko and Murthel Groenhart withdrew. Stetsurenko has had an inconsistent few years, including a devastating knockout loss to Paul “Semtex” Daley.
Holzken returned after a year out through injury this past Christmas day in Turkey (insert joke) defeating Yusuf Karakaya.
The second semi-final is a juicy encounter between Raymond Daniels and Jonatan Oliveira. Daniels is remembered for his knockout of the year against Francois Ambang at GLORY 16: Denver. Oliveira is a more technical muay thai fighter, with two decisions over Nicola Gallo and Atakan Arlan in the promotion.
With a potential rematch of the 2013 fight of the year between Holzken and “Bazooka Joe” on the line, Holzken takes Oliveira in the final to set it up.
Superfight Series “fights to watch”
There are a couple of fights on the GLORY 19 Superfight Series undercard that kickboxing fans need to look for. The obvious is Josh Jauncey; the highly touted prospect, going against Max Baumert, which should be a cracker.
However, Andy Ristie vs. Steve Moxon has the possibility to be fight of the night. These two fighters hit hard and hit fast, and it is definitely Ristie’s toughest test since Davit Kiria at GLORY 14. Moxon is Kiria-esque with his style, he is a known grinder and he could exploit the question mark over Ristie’s cardio.
A win for Ristie puts him next in line against Robin van Roosmalen, who “The Machine” knocked out back in their 2012 encounter.
UK fans can watch GLORY 19 and Superfight Series LIVE on February 6 right here.
