After his impressive display against Atakan Arslan at GLORY 20: Dubai, Chad Sugden made his successful debut on the GLORY world stage, immediately putting himself into the spotlight as a potential future star in the promotion.
It was announced during his bout with Arslan by GLORY commentator Mauro Ranallo that the winner would advance to GLORY 21: San Diego on May 8 to face karate sensation Raymond Daniels.
The Sugden vs. Daniels match-up brought a truly intriguing taste for kickboxing fans, with Daniels’s two GLORY losses coming to prominent classic kickboxing styles in Joseph Valtellini and Nieky Holzken, with Sugden’s strong point his boxing and ability to fight on the inside.
However, it was recently announced that Sugden would no longer compete in California, being replaced by Justin Baesman in the co-main event.
Chad Sugden spoke about turning down the Daniels fight: “I am not fighting Raymond Daniels because I got some local business to deal with first. I am a professional and financially it makes more sense to fight in the UK especially given my huge fan base.
“It’s a fight me versus Michael Wakeling that the kickboxing and muay thai worlds have been anticipating for some time as contracts were signed since the back end of last year.”
Sugden will face Michael Wakeling on May 23 in Birmingham, England for the IKF world title, in an all British encounter the United Kingdom has desired for years.
Chad’s decision to decline the Daniels fight is mightily plausible, with two potential career defining match-ups separated by 14 days, there was no way he would be able to fight both at full strength.
Coach Dean Sugden furthered his son’s explanation but hinted towards a major announcement should Chad defeat Wakeling on The Main Event: “It was great to get the offer to fight on GLORY 21: San Diego against Raymond Daniels, but we had already committed to the Wakeling fight. Chad ordinarily would of jumped at the chance to put his skills to the test against Daniels.
“Personally think it would of been a great fight. That said when we fought and beat Atakan Arslan on GLORY 20: Dubai, Michael Wakeling was already signed and in our focus. Once we have taken care out business on 23rd May then we will be making a huge announcement.”
Photo credit: GLORY Sports International
