Glory 4 Results: Schilt wins Heavyweight Grand Slam

Glory 4 took place on New Year’s Eve; the event featured the 16-man Heavyweight Grand Slam and when all the night’s action was completed Semmy Schilt was the last man standing. Schilt met Daniel Ghita in the tournament final, Schilt connected with a head kick that sent Ghita down in the opening frame. Although Ghita was able to get back to his feet the fight was topped by the referee giving Schilt the tournament crown.

Schilt defeated some top talent to win the tournament in addition to Ghita including Brice Guidon, Rico Verhoeven, and Gokhan Saki. For his efforts Schillt won $400,000.

In super fight action Robin van Roosmalen took home a unanimous decision victory over Yuichiro Nagashima.

Results:

Heavyweight Grand Slam Opening Round

Semmy Schilt def. Brice Guidon via KO in Rd. 2

Rico Verhoeven def. Sergei Kharitonov via Unanimous Decision

Gokhan Saki def. Raoumaru via (T)KO in Rd. 1

Anderson "Braddock" Silva def. Igor Jurkovic via (T)KO in Rd. 1

Remy Bonjasky def. Filip Verlinden via Split Decision

Jamal Ben Saddik def. Errol Zimmerman via Unanimous Decision

Mourad Bouzidi def. Peter Aerts via (T)KO in Rd. 1

Daniel Ghita def. Jhonata Diniz via Unanimous Decision

Heavyweight Grand Slam Quarterfinals

Semmy Schilt def. Rico Verhoeven via Unanimous Decision

Gokhan Saki def. Anderson "Braddock" Silva via KO in Rd. 1

Jamal Ben Saddik def. Remy Bonjasky via Unanimous Decision

Daniel Ghita def. Mourad Bouzidi (T)KO (Injury) in Rd. 2

Heavyweight Grand Slam Semi-finals

Semmy Schilt def. Gokhan Saki via Unanimous Decision

Daniel Ghita def. Jamal Ben Saddik via KO in Rd. 1

Heavyweight Grand Slam Final

Semmy Schilt def. Daniel Ghita via (T)KO in Rd. 1

Super Fights

Robin van Roosmalen def. Yuichiro Nagashima via Unanimous Decision

Mutsuki Ebata def. Sang-Jae Kim via Unanimous Decision

Jason Wilnis def. Toshio Matsumoto via Unanimous Decision

Jerome Le Banner def. Koichi Pettas via KO in Rd. 3

Glory 4 Heavyweight Grand Slam to air on CBS Sports

Glory has announced that the Glory 4 Heavyweight Grand Slam that will be held in conjunction with Dream 18 on December 31, 2012 will be aired on CBS Sports. The event which will feature some of the best heavyweight Kickboxers such as Semmy Schilt, Remy Bonjasky, Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghita, and more will air via tape delay on December 31st at 10 PM EST/7 PM PST.

Glory will look to make a push into the North American market starting in 2013 with its "Road to Glory" series and getting on American television is always a plus.

Below is the full press release from Glory.

CBS Sports Network To Air

GLORY 4 TOKYO – HEAVYWEIGHT GRAND SLAM

ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

Sixteen of the World's Hardest Hitting KO Artists Collide in a One Night Single-Elimination Kickboxing Competition With $600,000 in Prize Money At Stake

NEW YORK, NY (Dec. 26, 2012) -- GLORY 4 Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam, a one night single-elimination kickboxing competition featuring 16 of the world’s hardest hitting KO artists, will be televised on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012 at 10:00 p.m. EST on CBS Sports Network.

Unprecedented and historic in the sport of kickboxing, GLORY 4 is the first-ever 16-man tournament where the winner has to defeat four opponents in one night to be crowned GLORY World Champion and walk away with $400,000.

“We are very excited to provide fight fans in the U.S. with the first real look at GLORY KICKBOXING with the broadcast of our GLORY 4 Tokyo Heavyweight Grand Slam on CBS Sports Network on New Year's Eve,” said Marcus Luer, CEO Glory Sports International. “We have lined up the best heavyweight stand-up fighters from every corner of the globe who come with professional KO records that will astound and excite American fight fans! A world first—there will be no denying that the ’last man standing’ in this tournament will be hailed as the top stand-up fighter on the planet.”

The line-up consists of heavyweight KO superstars such as Peter Aerts (104-30-1, 78 KO's), Remy Bonjasky (77-14, 40 KO's) and Semmy Schilt (39-6, 18 KO's) plus dangerous rising stars such as the explosive Gokhan Saki (77-15, 53 KO's) and the clinical leg-kick specialist Daniel Ghita (44-7-0, 34 KO's), known to his Japanese fans as 'The Savage Samurai.’

Luer added “We have improved the GLORY rules further to allow for amazingly fast, furious and explosive fights. The action will be presented in the tradition of the best Japanese fight shows, with new video mapping technology as seen at the recent Olympics, heart-pounding music, pyro and special effects. It will be a feast for all the senses!”

CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, and to access the CBS Sports Network channel finder, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

For more information go to www.gloryworldseries.com.

About GLORY:

GLORY World Series (www.gloryworldseries.com) is the world's new premier kickboxing league, producing live events across the globe and offering up to $1,000,000 in prize money to the winners of one-night, 16-man ‘Grand Slam’ tournaments, which are open to only the best fighters in each weight class. The fight series also includes 8-man ‘Slam’ tournaments and events with traditional, single bouts.
With television deals spanning every continent, online live video streaming of all shows and the world's largest online martial arts library, GLORY is one of the world's most widely distributed sporting organizations.

Owned and operated by Glory Sports International (GSI), the organization has offices in the UK, Holland, Tokyo, Malaysia, Singapore and soon in the USA. Its personnel include an unprecedented mix of accomplished entrepreneurs and senior level executives from the diverse worlds of finance, sports marketing, television and martial arts fighting.

Jhonata Diniz replaces Fabiano Aoki against Daniel Ghita in opening round of Glory Grand Slam

Daniel Ghita was set to face Fabiano Aoki in the Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam taking place on December 31st in Japan, but Aoki has been forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a torn knee ligament Stepping in to replace Aoki is Jhonata Diniz from Brazil. Diniz will have a stiff test in front of him and will have to also overcome a huge experience gap. Diniz has nine pro fights compared to Ghita's 51.

Below is the official press release from Glory regarding the replacement of Fabiano Aoki.

DANIEL GHITA GETS NEW OPPONENT
FOR FIRST ROUND OF
GLORY 4 TOKYO – HEAVYWEIGHT GRAND SLAM
NEW YEAR’S EVE TOURNAMENT

FABIANO CYCLONE INJURED, JHONATA DINIZ STEPS UP
FOR BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY OF HIS YOUNG CAREER

TWO SUPERFIGHTS ALSO ADDED TO THE
NEW YEAR’S EVE MEGA-CARD

TOKYO, Japan (Dec. 19, 2012) - Brazilian heavyweight upstart Jhonata Diniz (7-2) has been given the opportunity of a lifetime after being brought in to the GLORY 4 Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam event as a replacement for an injured Fabiano ‘Cyclone’ Aoki, and will take on superstar Daniel Ghita (44-7-0, 34 KO’s) in the opening round of the one-night, 16-man elimination tournament at Saitama Super Arena on New Year’s Eve.

The switch was confirmed by Glory Sports International yesterday following Cyclone’s withdrawal from the event due to a torn ligament sustained in his left knee during a recent sparring practice with fellow Japanese heavyweight Koichi. Cyclone did not want to withdraw from the tournament, but doctors told him it would not be feasible for him to attempt to fight with such an injury.

“Naturally we are disappointed to see Fabiano Cyclone withdraw from this tournament. He has a crowd-pleasing style and we were looking forward to seeing him perform in front of his home fans. Such injuries are sometimes a side-effect of the hard training these fighters go through and we wish him a speedy recovery,” says Glory Sports International CEO Marcus Luer.

“His replacement is Jhonata Diniz, a young fighter from the famous fighting Brazilian city of Curitiba. He exemplifies that city’s infamously aggressive martial arts style and, from what we saw of his organization debut at GLORY 2 Brussels earlier this year, I think it’s safe to say that the crowd will definitely be entertained by what he brings to the ring.

“He’s facing Ghita first, and Ghita is second-favorite to win the tournament. It’s a tall order, but Diniz didn’t hesitate to accept; he says is very much looking forward to the challenge.”

Interestingly, Cyclone is half-Brazilian, with one of his parents coming from the same Brazilian city - Belem - that is home to the former UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, who is also half-Japanese, half-Brazilian. So it is fitting that it is a Brazilian that has replaced him, albeit one from a different city.

Curitiba is well known in the martial arts world as being the home of the famed Chute Boxe team which dominated PRIDE FC and produced legendary names such as Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

Diniz came up through the Thai Boxe team, Chute Boxe’s main rival for dominance on the regional Muay Thai and kickboxing circuit. Curitiba teams seem to have developed a super-aggressive, almost reckless fighting style, either independently or as a response to each other continuously upping the ante. Diniz’s past fights confirm this, displaying at times almost a complete disregard for his own safety as he looks to finish his opponents.

He recently moved to the Netherlands to pursue his training and has been taken under the wing of the accomplished Cor Hemmers and his son Nicky Hemmers. According to the elder Hemmers, “Diniz is going to become a serious force to be reckoned with over the next few years and this tournament will be the start of that journey.”

Two other matches have also been confirmed for the GLORY event on New Year’s Eve. A 187 pound/85 kilogram match between Toshio Matsumoto (37-9-6,1NC, 30 KO’s) and Jason ‘Tyson’ Wilnis (18-2-1) forms one of the evening’s Superfights and sees the more experienced Matsumoto taking on a 22-year old who is nicknamed ‘Tyson’ for a reason. Wilnis - younger brother of fellow professional Jaffar - has been knocking all comers out on his way to the big show and will be looking to shine in Japan.

The second match sees 21-year old Mutsuki ‘Double Dragon’ Ebata putting his impressive 16-1-1 record on the line against Korean opponent Sang-Jae Kim at 117 pounds/53 kilograms.

'GSI presents DREAM 18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo - New Year's Eve Special' is a double-header mega-event which will provide a dynamite ending to the 2012 fighting calendar. The first half consists of the DREAM 18 mixed martial arts event while the latter half is the biggest stand-up fighting event in history. ‘GLORY 4 Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam’ features 16 heavyweight strikers in a one-night elimination tournament to determine which of them is the best.

Among those participating in the heavyweight tournament are world No. 1 ranked Semmy Schilt (39-6, 18 KO's), Remy Bonjasky (77-14, 40 KO's), Peter Aerts (104-30-1, 78 KO's), Gokhan Saki (77-15, 53 KO's), Daniel Ghita (44-7, 34 KO's), Errol Zimmerman (76-16-1, 41 KO's), Anderson 'Braddock' Silva (32-8-1, 22 KO's) and Sergei Kharitonov (22-7, 12 KO's).

The winner of the tournament will take home a Grand Prize of $400,000, and a total of $600,000 in prize money will be awarded to tournament participants.

Visit www.gloryworldseries.com for more information.

About GLORY:

The GLORY World Series (www.gloryworldseries.com) is the world's premier martial arts stand-up fighting league, staging events across the globe and offering up to $1,000,000 in prize money to the winners of 16-man 'Grand Slam' tournaments, which are open to only the best fighters in each weight class. The fight series also includes 8-man 'Slam' tournaments and events with traditional, single bouts.

With television deals spanning every continent, plus a groundbreaking online video streaming system and the world's largest online martial arts library, GLORY is one of the world's most widely-broadcast sporting organizations.

Owned and operated by Glory Sports International (GSI), the organization has offices in Holland, the UK, Tokyo, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Its personnel includes a diverse mix of award-winning hedge-fund and private equity investors; principals from pioneering sports marketing agency Total Sport Asia; and senior level executives from several leading sports franchises, including WWE, FIFA, Golden Glory, Champions League and It's Showtime.

Robin van Roosmalen and Jerome Le Banner set to compete at Glory 4/Dream 18 year end event

The Glory 4 Tokyo Grand Slam/Deam 18 event on December 31st has now added two more bouts to the line up. Robin van Roosmalen will be taking on Yuichiro Nagashima and Jerome Le Banner will face off against Koichi Pettas.

Le Banner is a legend in the sport and van Roosmalen has quickly become a fan favorite with his aggressive and exciting style. If a 16-man one night heavyweight tournament featuring the best heavyweight in the world wasn’t enough for you, then you should be satisfied with these two additional bouts. You can read the official press release from Glory below.

TWO SUPERFIGHTS ADDED TO

GLORY 4 TOKYO – HEAVYWEIGHT GRAND SLAM

NEW YEAR’S EVE EVENT AT SAITAMA SUPER ARENA

ROBIN VAN ROOSMALEN VS. YUICHIRO NAGASHIMA

JEROME LE BANNER VS. KOICHI PETTAS

TOKYO, Japan (Dec. 13, 2012) - World No. 2 ranked lightweight (154 pounds/70 kilograms) Robin van Roosmalen (37-14-3, 12 KO’s) has been confirmed for a Superfight with colorful Japanese fighter Yuichiro Nagashima (17-5, 12 KO’s) at the GLORY 4 TOKYO – Heavyweight Grand Slam event at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan on New Year’s Eve.

Also confirmed is a heavyweight showdown between the legendary ‘Battle Cyborg’ Jerome Le Banner (72-21-2, 58 KO’s) and Japanese Kyokushin Karate stylist Koichi Pettas (26-7-1, 15 KO’s). The three-round battle pits the heavy hands and raw power of Le Banner against the hard-kicking technicality of Pettas and should provide for an exhilarating match.

“GLORY is home to the world’s top stand-up fighters and these two fights showcase that perfectly. In the first we have the world’s No. 2 lightweight fighter, who smashed his way through our ‘Final 8’ tournament earlier this year and fought the world’s No. 1 ranked lightweight Giorgio Petroysan in a thrilling final,” says Glory Sports International CEO Marcus Luer.

“Nagashima is known the world over for his flamboyant ring entrances. He likes to put on a show but he also has the fighting skills to match. He prefers the kicking game while van Roosmalen likes to use his hands, so it’s going to be an interesting clash of styles in this fight.

“As for the heavyweights, Le Banner is an icon to fight fans all around the world. He is up there with Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt and Remy Bonjasky as a legend of the sport. Some of the biggest KO’s in the history of the sport have been at Le Banner’s hands and he will be looking to stage another one for his fans on New Year’s Eve.

“He is facing a hometown hero, though and Koichi is not an easy man to put away. He made his GLORY debut earlier this year with a huge KO of American veteran Mark Miller and his Kyokushin style means he puts a lot of damage on his opponents. Fighting him is a painful experience for anybody.”

In Japan, Le Banner is known as ‘The Battle Cyborg,’ thanks to a relentless ferocity and unbelievable toughness that at times makes him seem to be half-machine. Born in the tough docklands city of Le Havre, he has battled his way into the sport’s history books with huge KO’s and awe-inspiring displays of courage. He has wins over top names such as legend Ernesto Hoost, Tyrone Spong, Mark Hunt and Bonjasky.

Pettas, known simply as ‘Koichi,’ is one of the top heavyweight karate fighters on the planet and can trace his lineage directly to the founder of KyokushinKarate, sensei Mas Oyama. The style was developed from traditional karate as an answer to Muay Thai, and it is considered to be one of the hardest fighting styles in the world today. Koichi proves that claim via 15 KO’s from his 26 wins.

Van Roosmalen comes from a family of boxers and one look at his fighting style is enough to see that the blood runs true. Packing fearsome power into his 154 pound/70 kilogram frame, van Roosmalen has a well-deserved reputation as a KO artist, and has a growing army of fans. His performance in the GLORY ‘Final 8’ tournament on Nov. 3 was spectacular and included a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate against Dzhabar Askerov.

Nagashima was a high-school student when he first saw a kickboxing tournament. He was immediately entranced, particularly by the superb technique of the Swiss karate fighter Andy Hug. Already a judo black belt, Nagashima at that point directed all his energies into the striking arts and determined to emulate his hero. He swore that he would always be an entertainer as well as a fighter, prompting the development of the flamboyant ring entrances which have graced television screens worldwide.

The GLORY 4 Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam event will be headlined by a one-night, 16-man, single-elimination tournament featuring the world’s top heavyweight stand-up fighters, including Schilt (39-6, 18 KO’s), Bonjasky (77-14, 40 KO’s), Aerts (104-30-1, 78 KO’s), Gokhan Saki (77-15, 53 KO’s), Daniel Ghita (44-7, 34 KO’s), Errol Zimmerman (76-16-1, 41 KO’s), Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva (32-8-1, 22 KO’s) and Sergei Kharitonov (22-7, 12 KO’s).

The winner of the heavyweight tournament will take home a Grand Prize of $400,000, and a total of $600,000 in prize money will be awarded to tournament participants.

The GLORY 4 Tokyo – Heavyweight Grand Slam event represents one-half of the ‘GSI presents DREAM 18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo - New Year's Eve Special’ double-header fight card, which will begin at 4 p.m. JST with the DREAM 18 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event.

For more information, visit www.gloryworldseries.com.

About GLORY:

The GLORY World Series (www.gloryworldseries.com) is the world's premier kickboxing, or stand-up fighting league, staging events across the globe and offering up to $1,000,000 in prize money to the winners of 16-man ‘Grand Prix’ tournaments, which are open to only the best fighters in each weight class. The fight series also includes 8-man tournaments and events with traditional, single bouts.

With television deals spanning every continent, plus a groundbreaking online video streaming system and the world's largest online martial arts library, GLORY is one of the world's most widely-broadcast sporting organizations.

Owned and operated by Glory Sports International (GSI), the organization has offices in Holland, the UK, Tokyo, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Its personnel includes a diverse mix of award-winning hedge-fund and private equity investors; principals from pioneering sports marketing agency Total Sport Asia; and senior level executives from several leading sports franchises, including WWE, FIFA, Golden Glory, Champions League and It's Showtime.