Glory 24 Results: Schilling Wins, Adegbuyi Takes Heavyweight Tournament

Glory 24 took place last night in Denver, CO and fight fans were ready to see Joe Schlling return to the Glory ring. Schilling was originally slated to fight middleweight champion Artem Levin, but an injury forced a change a few weeks back and Jason Wilnis stepped in to fight Schilling.

These two fighters came out looking to cause some damage, both were ripping into each other. Schilling established himself first as he was faster and more accurate. Early in the second round a left hook from Schilling dropped Wilnis. Despite tasting the canvas, Wilnis showed what he was made of by storming back into the fight and hurting Schilling with an overhand right that buckled him. Wilnis seemed to have a chance to end the fight and he continued to attack Schilling who wisely clinched and slowed things down. 

It seemed things were ready for a wild third round, but Wilnis was unable to answer the bell for the final round after he suffered a badly broken toe in the second round. Schilling has now won two consecutive fights  for Glory and if he gets his way his third will be against Artem Levin.

In the night's heavyweight contender tournament Benjamin Adegbuyi and Jahfarr Wilnis punched their tickets to the tournament final by winning their semi-final bouts with leg kick (T)KO's. In the final the two big men didn't slow down, despite seeming fatigued they fought for three rounds and left everything in the ring. It was a close fight and Adegbuyi walked away with a split decision win and a chance to dethrone Glory Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven.

Dustin Jacoby scored a huge win over Glory veteran Wayne Barrett. Jacoby punished Barrett to the head and body throughout the fight. Barrett started to fatigue early and as Jacoby continued to push the pace it was too much for Barrett. In the third round punches sent Barrett to the canvas where he was counted out by the referee. With the win Jacoby has now won three straight, while Barrett drops his fourth consecutive bout.

Glory 24 Results:

Joe Schilling def. Jason Wilnis via (T)KO (Injury) at 3:00 of Rd. 2

Dustin Jacoby def. Wayne Barrett via KO at 1:40 of Rd. 3

Robert Thomas def. David Radeef via Split Decision

Casey Greene def. Francois Ambang via KO at 1:38 of Rd. 2

Kevin Vannostrong def. Justin Houghton via Split Decision

Zack Wells def. Chris Trammel KO at 1:56 of Rd. 1

Jason Lee def. Steve Paprocki via KO at 2:59 of Rd. 2

Heavyweight Contender Tournament Semi-Finals:

Bejamin Adegbuyi def. Mladen Brestovac via (T)KO (Leg Kicks) at 1:47 of Rd. 3

Jahfarr Wilnis def. Ben Edwards via (T)KO (Leg Kicks) at 1:36 of Rd. 2

Heavyweight Contender Tournament Final:

Benjamin Adegbuyi def. Jahfarr Wilnis via Split Decision

Joe Schilling vs. Robert Thomas added to Glory 19

The Glory 19 fight card continues to grow. The event which will take place February 6th at the  Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia has added Joe Schilling vs. Robert Thomas.

Schilling recently returned to MMA with a vicious knockout of Melvin Manhoef under the Bellator promotion. His last action in Kickboxing was at Glory: Last Man Standing this past June when he made it to the finals of the eight-man one night tournament before coming up short against Artem Levin for the Glory Middleweight Championship. The pair have now split their match ups and it is safe to say that with a win against Thomas, Schilling will get a shot at Levin's belt.

Thomas is one of Canada's up and coming fighters. He was last in action at Glory 18 when he scored a KO over veteran Mike Lemaire. The only two losses of Thomas's career have come to current Glory Middleweight Champion Artem Levin and top ranked Glory fighter Alex Perreira.

Fight Card:

Main Card:

Rico Verhoeven vs Errol Zimmerman
Joe Schilling vs Robert Thomas

Welterweight Tournament

Nieky Holzken vs Murthel Groenhart

Raymond Daniels vs Jonatan Oliveira

Glory 19 Updated Fight Card

Glory Sports International announces their 19th event set for February 6, 2015 at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia, releasing a partial fight card for the event. Rico Verhoeven returns to Glory to defend his heavyweight title in a rematch against Errol Zimmerman in the headlining bout.  Zimmerman will look to avenge his Glory 9 loss to Verhoeven in definitive fashion. Glory 19 will also feature a welterweight 4-man contender tournament, the winner of which will be given their chance at the title in facing Joseph Valtellini. Nieky Holzken, Murthel Groenhart, Raymond Daniels, and Jonatan Oliveira vie for their opportunity for the number one contender spot. Joe Schilling returns to Glory with a renewed contract after his Bellator bout against Melvin Manhoef. Schilling will face Robert Thomas, Thomas last defeating Mike Lemaire at Glory 18.

Be sure to check back with Muay Thai Authority for updates on the remainder of the Glory 19 card.

Fight Card:

Main Card:

Rico Verhoeven vs Errol Zimmerman
Joe Schilling vs Robert Thomas

Welterweight Tournament

Nieky Holzken vs Murthel Groenhart

Raymond Daniels vs Jonatan Oliveira

Updated Light Heavyweight Rankings 4-13-2014

Simon Marcus continues to sit on top of the Light Heavyweight Rankings as he has for the past two years. Joe Schilling is no longer in the number two slot as he has been bumped up to the Cruiserweight Rankings after competing in Glory’s 187lb Middleweight division.  

Stephen Richards comes back into the rankings after a lengthy absence due to inactivity and replaces Schilling. Robert Thomas enters the rankings for the first time, and both Alex Berrios and Andrew Kapel move down one spot each due to their recent two fight skids.

1. Simon Marcus (39-0-1)
Simon Marcus has all but cemented himself into the number one slot for the 175lb rankings. The only mark on his record that is not a win is a controversial draw with Chidi Njokuani in September of 2013. In 2014 he is already 3-0 including a hard fought decision win over recent Glory signee Israel Adesanya and a knockout of Vehas TopKing. There are a slew of interesting fights for Marcus including a potential re-match with Artem Levin, but the bout that would get everyone excited would be the UK’s Steve Wakeling. If it will happen only time will tell, but right now Marcus sits perched on top of the Light Heavyweight Rankings and it doesn’t seem he will be coming down anytime soon. He is expected to compete for Glory in their upcoming Glory Middleweight Tournament and it will be interesting how losing some of his best weapons (clinch and elbows) and moving back up to 187lbs will affect Marcus.
 

2. Stephen Richards (8-2-1)
Stephen Richard has been one of North America’s best kept Muay Thai secrets for quite some time now. He is well rounded and full of grit, the problem is fight fans don’t get to see him fight very often. 2013 was his most active year in recent memory and he only had two fights that year. He defeated Alex Berrios and Glen Spencer, both by decision. If Richards can remain more active in 2014 and for the remainder of his career Muay Thai fans will definitely be well aware of who he is.

3. Robert Thomas (6-0)
Thomas has scored some big wins in the past few months. He bested Andrew Kapel by unanimous decision at Round Kick Rumble XXI. He most recently scored a (T)KO victory over Tarek Rached in New York at Friday Night Fights. The Mas Thai Boxing product is only 20 years old and like many of his Canadian counter parts that have climbed to the top of the North American scene it seems like the sky is the limit for him.
  

4. Alex Berrios (9-4)
Alex Berrios is known as one of North America’s best technicians. He has been in the ring with some of North America’s top fighters and has always shown to be a worthy opponent. In addition to his excellent technique, Berrios has shown he possesses fight ending power in his strikes which makes him that much more exciting to watch. Berrios has recently hit a two fight skid, the first time this has ever happened in his career. Both of his losses were by decision to solid opponents in Stephen Richards and Brett Hlavacek. Berrios doesn’t have a return date to the ring yet, but when he does there is no doubt that he will be ready to step in against whoever is placed in front of him. 

5. Andrew Kapel (10-5)
Kapel is another one of North America’s talents that would be more widely recognized if he was able to stay more active. The Minnesota based fighter has dropped his last two bouts. The first was in the semi-finals of the Road to Glory tournament last year in an extra round decision and most recently at Round Kick Rumble XXI where he lost a unanimous decision to Robert Thomas.

Rankings qualification - Muay Thai and Kickboxing bouts are all taken into consideration for the rankings. These rankings are not only based on Muay Thai Fights as many fighters compete in both full rules Muay Thai and Kickboxing bouts. Fighters are not to be inactive for any period longer than 12 months or they will be dropped from the rankings unless a fight is schedule within a month from the date they become ineligible. Fighters that compete in two weight classes will be assigned a weight class that they compete in regularly or hold a major title in. Fighters that are born outside North America, become eligible once they have permanently resided in North America for two years and are actively fighting on the North American fight circuit.
 

*If you are currently ranked in a weight class and would like to switch weight classes please notify Rankings@MuayThaiAuthority.com. Switching weight classes does not guarantee you will be ranked in the new weight class.

Friday Night Fights Results: Hill edges Nichols

Friday Night Fights was in full swing last night in New York, NY. The night's main event featured a bout between two of the best recognized female Muay Thai fighters in Angela Hill and Ashley Nichols.

Hill and Nichols both came out and put on a show for the fans in a bout that went the distance. Hill was the more aggressive of the two and used her punches to score more, while Nichols more technical preferring to attack with kicks and knees. In the end the judges awarded Hill a split decision victory.

In the night's only other pro fight Robert Thomas and Tarek Rached went at it for three rounds, but in the end Thomas was able to score a (T)KO over Rached.

Results:

Angela Hill def. Ashley Nichols via Split Decision

Robert Thomas def. Tarek Rached via (T)KO in Rd. 3

Thomas vs. Rached ready to set off fire works this Friday

Friday Night Fights returns to the Broad Street Ballroom this Friday in New York. In the night’s co-main event Robert Thomas and Tarek Rached will look to set off fireworks. Neither fighter is too familiar with the other, but they both guarantee they are ready to adapt as necessary in the ring.

Rached has been making his way to Sitan Gym in New York City from Long Island every day to train with Aziz Nabih. The focus in their training camp has been sharpening Rached’s Muay Thai technique. Thomas says that for him training camp has been the usual work of running, bag work, pad work, and everything else that he needs to be ready when he steps in the ring and nothing changes from his previous camps.

Both fighters are expecting and fast and furious fight. Rached states “I'm expecting a great fight with a lot of kicking combinations, it's going to be very fast fight. One thing for sure is everyone watching is gonna be very pleased to witness a fight like this, it will be the fight a lot of people will be talking about.”

Thomas states to those that might not be familiar with him “Can expect to see an exciting fight. I always bring it and am looking to put on a good show.”

Both fighters have one goal in mind, and that is being the best. They each are an obstacle on the others path to the top and on Friday one man will continue him climb up the ranks, while the other will take a step backwards. Who exactly it will be we will know on Friday night, but for now you ask each fighter and their answer is simple, me.

Round Kick Rumble XXI Results and Recap

Round Kick Rumble XXI took place this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. The night was full of exciting Muay Thai action from amateur to pro. In the main event Pete Peterson came out of retirement to fight Steve Milles. It was a hard fought fight by both men, but in the end Peterson's return would be spoiled by Milles as all three judges scored the fight in favor of Milles giving him a unanimous decision win.

In the co-main event Andrew Kapel and Robert Thomas met for the TBA-SA cruiserweight title. In what was another hard fought fight by both fighters involved, Thomas was able to get the better of Kapel and take home a unanimous decision verdict from the judges.

Tony Manoharan met late replacement Evan Woolsey after his original opponent Andy Zerger was forced to withdraw from the bout. Manoharan looked solid in the fight controlling most of the rounds. Woolsey made an effort to rally in the later rounds but it his effort was not enough. Manoharan was awarded a unanimous decision victory.

In the night's first pro fight Richard Abraham defeated Bryan Carroll by unanimous decision.

Results:

Steve Milles def. Pete Peterson via Unanimous Decision

Robert Thomas def. Andrew Kapel via Unanimous Decision

Tony Manoharan def. Evan Woolsey via Unanimous Decision

Richard Abraham def. Bryan Carroll via Unanimous Decision

Round Kick Rumble XXI set for November 23rd in Des Moines, Iowa with 4 pro bouts including Tony Manohara vs. Andy Zerger

Round Kick Rumble XXI will take place November 23rd in Des Moines, Iowa. The event will feature several amateur fights and four pro fights. The pro fights will be Tony Manoharan vs. Andy Zerger, Andrew Kapel vs. Robert Thomas, Rich Abraham vs. Jimmy Donahue, and Pete Peterson vs. Steve Milles. 

Kapel and Manoharan are the two most recognizable names on the fight card. Kapel was part of the Road to Glory USA middleweight tournament earlier this year. He dropped an extra round decision to eventual tournament winner Mike Lemaire. Manoharan has been active not only fighting, but coaching. in 2011 he was involved in the first full rules Muay Thai fight in the state of New Jersey.

Pro Fight Card:

Tony Manoharan vs. Andy Zerger

Andrew Kapel vs. Robert Thomas

Rich Abraham vs. Jimmy Donahue

Pete Peterson vs. Steve Miles