3 more bouts confirmed for Glory 10 including Sanny Dahlbeck vs. Andy Ristie

Glory 10 is shaping up to be quite a stacked card. In addition a few super fights and the highly anticipated 4-man middleweight tournament featuring Artem Levin, Jason Wilnis, Joe Schilling, and Steve Wakeling; Glory has made three more fights official. Andy Risite vs. Sanny Dahlbeck, Brian Collette vs. Randy Blake, and Alexander Stetsurenko vs. Karapet Karapetyan. Wayne Barrett is also expected to compete in a tournament reserve bout against and to be announced opponent.

Ristie vs. Dahlbeck should be an exciting fight as both fighters have finishing power. Risite is coming off a huge knockout over Albert Kraus. Dahlbeck will be fighting for Glory for the first time since the 154lb tournament that saw him make it to the semi-finals before losing to Robin van Roosmalen. At only 22 years of age Dahlbeck is one of Kickboxing's biggest prospects.

Glory 10 takes place September 28th at Citizen Bank Arena in Ontario, CA.

 

Fight Card:
Jerome Le Banner vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Robin van Roosmalen vs. Shemsi Bequiri
Jordan Watson vs. Albert Kraus
Murthel Groenhart vs. Davit Kiria
Brice Guidon vs. Jahfarr Wilnis 

Sanny Dahlbeck vs. Andy Ristie

Brian Collette vs. Randy Blake

Alexander Stetsurenko vs. Karapet Karapetyan 

4-Man Middleweight Tournament
Artem Levin vs. Jason Wilnis
Steve Wakeling vs. Joe Schilling 

  

Tournament Reserve Bout 

Wayen Barrett vs. TBA

Matches to make after Glory 9

Glory 9 took place in New York this past weekend and it was filled with excitement from start to finish. Some of North America’s top talents were in action on the night as well as some of the biggest names in the sport of Kickboxing.

Joseph Valtellini continued to prove to fight fans that he is the real deal with another (T)KO stoppage, Wayne Barrett put fight fans on notice, and Randy Blake made a successful Glory debut. There were some great performances from the North American based fighters.

Below are a few match-ups we think would make sense as the next possible fight for the North American winners at Glory 9, as well as some of the fighters that tasted defeat.

Joseph Valtellini vs. Gregory Choplin

Valtellini’s lone loss of his professional and amateur career combined came at the hands of Gregory Choplin at Lion Fight 7. Valtellini has since won three consecutive fights, two by stoppage under the Glory banner. Choplin is no stranger to Kickboxing bouts and it would make a nice match up. Will Valtellini be able to implement his crisp boxing combinations followed up by leg kicks or will Choplin once again use his experience to take home a victory over the younger Valtellini? Either Choplin beats the red hot Valtellini and jumps right into the Glory mix, or Valtellini avenges his lone loss to a highly touted and respected striker.

Wayne Barrett vs. Andrew Kapel

Wayne Barrett surprised many people with his knockout of Mike Lemaire. Unless you knew him you probably weren’t picking him to beat Lemaire, especially considering he only had one pro fight coming into the bout. Now Barrett is in the unique position that he only has two pro fights yet he beat one of the Road to Glory USA champions. Do you throw him into the mix with the top strikers in the world or bring him up accordingly. The best bet here would be to give him a hard nosed veteran of the North American striking scene. Andrew Kapel is as hard nosed as they come, tough durable and likes to get in your face. He dropped a razor thin split decision in the Road to Glory tournament to Lemaire, a bout in which he knocked Lemaire down early in the fight. Kapel would be a good measuring stick for Barrett, if he can beat two of North America’s top cruiserweights it would be a big accomplishment.

Brett Hlavacek vs. Stephen Richards

Hlavacek and Richards were set to fight at the Warriors Cup a few months back, but both fighters ended up pulling out of the match up. Now would be a great time for it to happen. Hlavacek rebounded nicely form his first career defeat by scoring a decision victory over Paul Marfort at Glory 9, and Richards most recently scored a win over highly regarded Alex Berrios. Bother Hlavacek and Richards are both strong fighters who normally impose their will in the ring so it would be interesting to see who would dictate the action in this bout.

Randy Blake vs. Dustin Jacoby

Blake won at Glory 9 against Koichi Pettas in a super fight, while Jacoby defeated Brian Collette in the opening round of the Glory Light Heavyweight Grand Slam and then dropped a decision to Danyo Ilunga in the semi-finals. The pair previously met in the opening round of the Road to Glory Light Heavyweight Tournament, a bout which Jacoby won by third round (T)KO. Blake was the favorite in the tournament and Jacoby surprised many by not only beating Blake but winning the tournament. The first fight was entertaining and there is no reason the second bout wouldn’t be.

Francois Ambang vs. Anthony Nieves

Ambang hung tough against Joseph Valtellini but eventually succumbed to leg kicks in the third round. He was able to land some clean shots on Valtellini, and kept a nice head and body defense for most of the fight, but left his legs open for attack. Valtellini does attack his opponent’s legs more than the average fighter, so it shouldn’t be something Ambang needs to worry about too much, he defended well early but the damage just accumulated. Valtellini was definitely a good measuring stick for Ambang. A fight against another strong North American based fighter should follow for Ambang. Nieves dropped a decision in the opening round of the Road to Glory USA tournament that Ambang won, but would present a strong test for Ambang.

Mike Lemaire vs. Afam Egbochuku

Lemaire went into his fight with Wayne Barrett a heavy favorite, but when it was over he was left face down on the canvas. Lemaire didn’t look good in his previous outing before fighting Barrett despite taking home a victory, and now his performance against Barrett raises some questions. A fight against a fighter like Afam Egbochuku who just happens to be based in San Diego like Lemaire would be a nice little in town rivalry, but would also be a good fight to see how Lemaire rebounds after his first professional loss. Egbochuku has power to test Lemaire’s chin but half the amount of fights.

Dustin Jacoby wins "Road to Glory" light heavyweight tournament

Results courtesy of Glory, photo by Morgan Clements/Glory

TULSA, Okla. (Feb. 2, 2013) – After accepting the opportunity to fight just one day before the event, 24-year-old Dustin Jacoby (9-3) of Arenzville, Illin. rose to the occasion, defeating three consecutive opponents, all by way of (T)KO, in one night to capture the inaugural ROAD TO GLORY USA light heavyweight (209 pounds/95 kilograms) tournament championship at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa on Friday, Feb. 1.

Jacoby was called on to compete just 4! 8 hours in advance of the event and drove to Tulsa from Arenzville, after Manuel Quezada, one of the original eight entrants, suddenly withdrew from the tournament for unknown reasons. 

In the tournament’s quarterfinal stage, reigning ISKA world champion Randy “Boom Boom” Blake (25-2, 17 KOs) of Tulsa, a local superstar and favorite to win the tournament, battered the left leg of Jacoby and hammered Jacoby with punching combinations for over two rounds.  In the third stanza, though, Jacoby suddenly countered with a flurry that put Blake down and forced the referee to intervene and stop the bout at the 1:43 mark of the final scheduled round. 

In the semifinal stage, Jacoby faced off with Roy “Wreckin’ Ball” Boughton (9-4, 8 KOs), who had defeated Daniel “Sandman” Brison (9-3, 6 KOs) by way of unanimous decision to advance past the quarterfinal stage.  After eating a right h! and, Jacoby responded with a series of stiff jabs that snapped Boughton’s head back.

Jacoby exploded with a knee strike to the head that sent Boughton to the canvas.  Boughton beat the referee’s 10 count, but was put down for the second time with a Jacoby left hook to the body.  The tournament’s “two knockdown rule” took effect, giving Jacoby the TKO victory at the 2:47 mark of the second round.

With a considerable amount of momentum behind him, Jacoby came out the aggressor in the tournament’s championship round, against previously undefeated Brian Collette (19-1, 16 KOs), who had scored a second round (:14) KO on Jeremy Freitag in the quarterfinal round of the event and a first round (1:29) TKO on Kyle Martin in the semifinal stage of the tournament.

Jacoby began connecting with a series of stiff jabs and a left hook to Collette’s body.  With ! less than 10 seconds remaining in the opening round of action, Jacoby unloaded a barrage that put Collette on the mat face first, unable to recover.  Jacoby was declared the victor of the bout by way of first round (3:00) KO.

COMPLETE ROAD TO GLORY USA LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENT RESULTS:
 

Tournament Reserve Fight:

John King def. Jason Bloom via unanimous decision – 29-28, 29-28, 30-27

Quarterfinal Round:

Roy Boughton def. Daniel Brison via unanimous decision – 30-26, 29-27, 29-27
Dustin Jacoby def. Randy Blake via TKO – Round 3 (1:43)

Kyle Martin def. Myron Dennis via unanimous decision – 28-29, 29-28, 29-28

Brian Collette def. Jeremy Freitag via KO – Round 2 (:14)

Semifinal Round:               

Dustin Jacoby def. Roy Boughton via TKO – Round 1 (2:47)

Brian Collette def. Kyle Martin via TKO – Round 1 (1:29)

Championship Round:
Dustin Jacoby def. Brian Collette via KO – Round 1 (3:00)

Randy Blake talks tonight's "Road to Glory" tournament

Randy Blake will be competing tonight in Glory’s “Road to Glory” Heavyweight tournament at Xtreme Fight Night in Tulsa, OK. The one night tournament will earn the winner $20,000 and a Glory contract. Blake will be looking to best the eight man field and take home the Glory contract. He was kind enough to take sometime and answer a few questions for Muay Thai Authority about the upcoming tournament.

MTA: Randy you are part of the Glory one night heavyweight tournament. How is training for this fight going?

Randy: Training is going well. I get to train for 7 guys and not 1. Very interesting but all is going well and looking forward to Feb. 1st.

MTA: Does training change at all because the fact that you need to win 3 bouts in one night as well as having to face 3 completely different opponents?

Randy: It is different everyday every session but we don't know who we get so you almost are blinded by training as if it were going to happen that way that night. It has definitely been a great camp training like a beast ready to expect everything.

MTA: You have made a name for yourself recently as part of the K-1 heavyweight GP, how excited are you to now be competing for the biggest Kickboxing organization?

Randy: Exciting... I had a great run at K-1 but now competing for glory at the highest level now in my true weight class is something I am looking forward to doing this year and also getting a chance to make my name there and making new fans as well.

MTA: How familiar are you with the other fighters in this tournament and would you like to fight any of them in particular?

Randy: Familiar with a few of the fighters. They seem. Really strong. I don't have any that I would rather fight. I am just here to fight who they put in front of me and then I take it from there.

MTA: As you look at the seven other fighters, what advantage do you think you have over them in this tournament?

Randy: Experience. Even though I'm only 25, I've fought 5-6 times a year for five straight years. The recent main event fights in K-1 in L.A. against Dewey Cooper and in Tokyo against Cro Cop were also great seasoning. I also think fighting guys my own size [209lbs] is going to be a big advantage. I'm used to giving up 30+ pounds against most heavyweights I fight. This 209lb class is perfect for me.

MTA: You are going to be the crowd favorite since the tournament is in your back yard do you feel that will serve as an advantage to you or do you not consider that a factor at all come fight time?

Randy: It is an advantage. It would be if it were in anyone else's backyard. But it still is a tournament anything can happen and I know these guys are coming to fight so I will be prepared to battle and focus on that.

MTA: Any words for your supporters?

Randy: Want to thank God. Without him nothing is possible. Want to thank my family for being there as well as close friends who have supported me not only for this fight but since day 1 ... It's what keeps me going its what keeps the drive to go forward and do what I love to do best !! :-)

Randy Blake, Brian Collette, and 6 more heavyweights set for Road to Glory 8-man tournament at Xtreme Fight Night

The first event of Glory’s “Road to Glory” series will be taking place on February 1st in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dale Cook’s Xtreme Fight Night promotions will be hosting the 8-man one night heavyweight tournament. The news was first reported by Liverkick.com.

Fighting in the tournament will be Randy Blake, Myron Dennis, Brian Collette, Manuel Quezada, Kyle Martin, Roy Boughton, Daniel Brison, and Jeremy Freitag. None of the opening round match-ups have been announced for the event. 

Blake and Collette are likely the most recognizable names to fans. Blake fought under the K-1 one banner last yea including headlining K-1's event in Los Angeles as well as fighting Mirko Cro Cop later in the year. Collette has been making his name on the east coast circuit and is seen by many as one of the best up and coming fighters in the heavyweight division.

Pictures: K-1 Los Angeles

Scott Hirano was on hand at the K-1 event in Los Angeles to capture pictures of the night's action. The event featured some exciting fights. Enjoy the photos. 

To see more great fight photography make sure to like Scott Hirano’s official facebook page and follow him on twitter @ScottHirano. 

Results and Recap: K-1 Los Angeles Heavyweight GP

The first bout of the K-1 Heavyweight GP featured Seth Petruzelli and Xavier Vigney. Petruzelli did a good job of not letting Vigney used his long limbs early on, but it didn’t take long before Vigney found his mark. A right hand knocked down Petruzelli in the first and after answering the count another right knocked Petruzelli down again. It seemed Petruzelli didn’t beat the count but the bout continued into the second round. In the second round a short left from Vigney knocked Petruzelli down again. After answering the count a brief exchange ended with a knee up the middle from Vigney and Petruzelli went down again. The referee wasn’t going to count but Petruzelli would not get up. The KO win for Vigney came at 1:17 of the second round.

Rick Roufus and Mighty Mo, two veterans of the sport fought for three hard rounds. Mighty Mo was the aggressor as Roufus looked to use counter strikes. Roufus was able to avoid Mighty Mo’s big strikes and land some solid counter punches and kicks. In the end the judges awarded Roufus a split decision victory.