Glory 6 results and recap

Glory 6 took place last night in Istanbul, Turkey and the main event bout between Gokhan Saki and Daniel Ghita lived up to all the hype and more. Widely considered the second and third best heavyweights in the world, the winner would get a title shot against current champion Semmy Schilt. The first round was pretty even, and at one point Saki caught a kick from Ghita and threw him down to the canvas. It seemed Ghita injured his arm on the throw, but the bout continued. In the second round against the round seemed pretty even until Saki unloaded a 12 punch combination that ended with a right hand that floored Ghita. After Ghita was able to get back to his feet and the bout resumed, a left hook from Saki sent Ghita back to the canvas. Saki knew he had Ghita hurt and as soon as the referee restarted the action he rushed in and continued to unload shots on a visibly hurt Ghita until the referee stepped in and stopped the fight, awarding Saki the victory and earning him a title shot against Semmy Schilt.

In the night’s co main event Fabiano Cyclone and Mourad Bouzidi was expected to be full of fireworks, and although it was a solid bout it ended prematurely. Cyclone came in with his right knee wrapped, and it would end up playing a factor in the fight. Bouzidi looked sharp in his bout and he looked to have Cyclone hurt at one point in the opening round. In the second round Cyclone came out aggressive, but after the action slowing down Bouzidi landed a few body punches and as Cyclone backed away it looked as if his knee gave out and he fell to the canvas. He got back to his feet and immediately Bouzidi went for his leg and Cyclone’s corner threw in the towel.

Marc De Bonte scored an impressive knockout of L’houcine Ouzgni in the first round. De Bonte exploded with a perfectly timed jumping knee that floored Ouzgni and ended the fight about a minute in. Great win for De Bonte.

Nieky Holzken and Karim Ghajji fought for three hard rounds and it seemed that Ghajji might be on his way to victory as the time was ticking away in the third round, but a wild exchange with Holzken proved costly. Holzken landed a night one two combination and Ghajji went down to the canvas. He was able to recover and the judges called for an extra round. In the extra round Holzken landed a knee to the face of Ghajji which opened a huge gash over his eye. The ringside physician was brought in to look at the cut and the bout was stopped and Holzken was awarded the (T)KO victory.

North America’s Joseph Valtellini made his Glory debut and it was nothing short of impressive. Fighting the more experienced Murat Direkci things seemed a little hairy in the opening minute as Direkci came out aggressive and landed some clean shots on Valtellini, but Valtellini was able to weather the storm and drop Direkci with a right hand before the first round ended. In the second round Direkci once again came out aggressive, but Valtellini was more than happy to stand and trade with him as he put together some great combinations. Punches and leg kicks were flying from Valtellini, and then he began to find an opening with his uppercut. A head kick dropped Direkci and after beating the referee’s count, a leg kick followed by a punch dropped Direkci again. The round ended but it was clear that Direkci was in trouble and as soon as the third round started Valtellini went in for the kill landing a head kick and then a nice punch combination before Direkci’s corner threw in the towel. Valtellini has now won seven of his eight pro wins by stoppage. It will be interesting who he is matched up with for his next fight in Glory.

Results:
Gokhan Saki def. Daniel Ghita via (T)KO (Referee Stoppage) in Rd. 2
Mourad Bouzidi def. Fabiano Cyclone via (T)KO (Corner Stoppage) in Rd. 2
Filip Verlinden def. Lucian Danilencu via Unanimous Decision
Marc De Bonte def. L’houcine Ouzgni via KO (Knee) in Rd. 1
Nieky Holzken def. Karim Ghajji via (T)KO (Cut) in Rd. 4
Andy Ristie def. Alessandro Campagna via Unanimous Decision
Joseph Valtellini def. Murat Direkci via (T)KO (Corner Stoppage) in Rd. 3
Max Baumert def. Ismail Uzuner via KO (Head Kick) in Rd. 1
Dongsu Kim def. Naoki Yasuda via Unanimous Decision
Jahfarr Wilnis def. Oguz Ovguer via KO in Rd. 1
Orhan Karalioglu def. Cleber Algente Albes via KO in Rd. 2
Samet Keser def. Muzzafer Gemici via KO in Rd. 1
Kenyan Gunaydin def. Zurab Khistani via KO in Rd. 3

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.