PRESS RELEASE–The fight cards for GLORY 46 China and GLORY 46 SuperFight Series have been finalized, setting the stage for the promotion’s historic event in mainland China on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Multiple-time world and Chinese national Sanda champions have been selected to compete in front of the crowd filling Guangzhou Gymnasium on fight night, including three athletes hailing from the renowned Tagou Martial Arts School.
Tagou’s Xiang Ye, a decorated Sanda practitioner, will test his skills against 20-year-old Australian prospect Junior Tafa under GLORY rules. This heavyweight match-up will serve as the GLORY 46 China co-headline bout.
In 2016, Ye won all of the recognized Sanda competitions in his weight class – a highly distinguished honor considered the sport’s Grand Slam. A current member of the Chinese National Sanda Team, his impressive list of accomplishments includes a Sanda World Cup title (over 90 kg) in 2016 and China National Games wins (over 90 kg) in 2014, 2016, and 2017.
Tafa, who is a towering figure at 6-foot-6, is a protégé of UFC heavyweight and K-1 Grand Prix winner Mark Hunt.
GLORY 46 China will also feature the first global broadcast of a Professional Sanda bout, in which Hongxing Kong will take on Yang Sun. This special attraction will be contested at 60 kilograms under professional Sanda rules.
Another Tagou student, member of the Chinese National Sanda Team, and Grand Slam honoree, Kong won the China Wushu Sanda Championship (60 kg) in 2014 and 2015, the Asia Games Wushu Sanda Championship (60 kg) in 2014, the World Wushu Sanda Championship (60 kg) in 2015, and National Games Wushu Sanda Championship (60 kg) most recently in 2017.
The complete six-fight card for GLORY 46 China can be found below:
GLORY China
Middleweight Title Headline Bout: Simon Marcus vs. Alex Pereira
Featherweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout: Xiang Ye vs. Junior Tafa
Professional Sanda (60 kg) Bout: Hongxing Kong vs. Yang Sun
Featherweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: Chenglong Zhang vs. Quade Taranaki
Featherweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Chenchen Li vs. Masaya Kubo
GLORY 46 SuperFight Series, streaming live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS earlier in the evening, has also added new names to the lineup.
In the GLORY 46 SuperFight Series co-headline bout, Shanghai “Tiger” Gao, the final Tagou fighter competing on Oct. 14, meets 23-year-old Russian Muay Thai fighter Khayal “Hulk” Dzhaniev at a catchweight of 73 kilograms.
Gao was a China Wushu Sanda silver medalist (75 kg) in 2014, 2015 and 2016, while Dzhaniev established himself on the Asian fight scene by defeating Thai legend Buakaw early in his professional career.
Lei “War Cop” Xie, a former Special Police Force officer, faces a tough task in his GLORY debut, taking on former title challenger and No. 2-ranked featherweight “The Professor” Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao at a catchweight of 68 kilograms.
Americans Matt Baker, a middleweight, and Nate Richardson, a lightweight, will not be able to compete at GLORY 46 SuperFight Series. Andre Walker will replace Baker in a bout against Jiangsu Province’s Wei Zhou, while Pascal “The German” Schroth replaces Richardson, kicking off the fight card against Qinghao “The Sniper” Meng.
The complete six-fight card for GLORY China SuperFight Series can be found below:
GLORY China SuperFight Series
Heavyweight Headline Bout: Rico Verhoeven vs. Antônio Silva
Catchweight (72 kg) Co-Headline Bout: Shanghai Gao vs. Khayal Dzhaniev
Middleweight Bout: Wei Zhou vs. Andre Walker
Catchweight (53 kg) Bout: Zaza Sor. Aree vs. Liu Jia
Catchweight (68 kg) Bout: Lei Xie vs. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao
Lightweight Bout: Qinghao Meng vs. Pascal Schroth
