British kickboxers Bailey Sugden and Mo Abdurahman will debut under the GLORY Kickboxing banner, featuring on the GLORY 43 SuperFight Series in New York City.
GLORY 43 happens on Friday, July 14 and will take place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The event will mark the promotion’s third event in the state of New York, but their first since GLORY 12 in November 2013. An eventful night etched in kickboxing history, as Andy Ristie defeated both Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin van Roosmalen by knockout to become lightweight world champion.
In March, an eight-man tournament took place on a Road to GLORY UK affiliated event, with the top two fighters claiming GLORY Kickboxing contracts. The winner of that grand prix, Abdurahman and runner-up, Sugden.
21-year-old Mo Abdurahman (24-6, 14 KO) has already fought under numerous internationally acclaimed kickboxing banners, including SuperKombat. In his GLORY debut, he will face powerful Chinese prospect Chenchen Li (27-4, 14 KO) as GLORY also continue to invest in Chinese talent.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Bailey “Bad Boy” Sugden (8-1, 2 KO); brother of former welterweight contender Chad, finds a stiff test in his first appearance, facing off against native New Yorker Chris Mauceri (9-5, 4 KO).
Also on deck, two New York natives square off on the GLORY 43 SuperFight Series, as Dominican-born middleweight Ariel “The Smash” Sepulveda (4-2, 1 KO) returns to the ring against undefeated GLORY newcomer Joe “Son of a Legend” Taylor (2-0).
GLORY’s first Israeli fighter Itay Gershon (12-4, 5 KO) will take on Polish standout Rafal Dudek (19-11, 9 KO) at lightweight. Finally, 11-time world champion Anissa Meksen (88-3, 29 KO) makes her hotly anticipated GLORY debut against Road to GLORY Brazil winner Jady Menezes (10-1, 5 KO). The French athlete is highly touted and will be looking to progress towards Tiffany van Soest’s super-bantamweight title.
GLORY 43 SuperFight Series
Middleweight Bout: Ariel Sepulveda vs. Joe Taylor
Lightweight Bout: Itay Gershon vs. Rafal Dudek
Featherweight Bout: Mo Abdurahman vs. Chenchen Li
Featherweight Bout: Chris Mauceri vs. Bailey Sugden
Super Bantamweight Bout: Anissa Meksen vs. Jady Menezes
