Action Pro Gear KO of the Week: Mourad Bouzidi vs. Rustemi Kreshnik

The Action Pro Gear KO of the Week comes from Mourad Bouzidi. At It's Showtime 57 in Belgium he fought Rustemi Kreshnik. As the second round was winding down he delivered a massive knee that knocked Kreshnik down. It seemed Kreshnik might recover from the knockdown, but then you saw his nose. The knee from Bouzidi completely shattered Kreshnik's nose and the fight was stopped. Watch the damage done by the knee below.

Tyrone Spong confirmed as final participant for Glory 9 light heavywieght tournament in New York

Tyrone Spong has been rumored to be on the June 22nd Glory 9 card in New York, and today Glory has officially confirmed that Spong will indeed be fighting at Glory 9. Spong will be part of the one night 8-man light heavyweight tournament taking place at Glory 9. 

Spong last competed in Kickboxing at Glory 5 when he knocked out Remy Bonjasky. Spong joins a tournament field that includes Michael Duut, Steve Mckinnon, Mourad Bouzidi, Filip Verlinden, Danyo Ilunga, Brian Collette, and Dustin Jacoby.

Other bouts slated for Glory 9 are Daniel Ghita vs. Brice Guidon, Joseph Valtellini vs. Francois Ambang, and Brett Hlavacek vs. Paul Malfort. All of the action will take place at the Hammerstien Ballroom.

HARD-HITTING SUPERSTAR TYRONE SPONG

ENTERS GLORY 9 NEW YORK

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT KICKBOXING TOURNAMENT

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

FOR HISTORIC, STAR-STUDDED EVENT AT

MANHATTAN’S HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM

ON SATURDAY, JUNE 22

SINGAPORE (May 7, 2013) – Twenty-seven year-old martial arts fighting superstar Tyrone “King of the Ring” Spong (69-6-1 43 KOs) of Boca Raton, Fla. via Suriname will compete in the one-night, single-elimination GLORY 9 New York tournament featuring a lineup of the world’s top light heavyweight (209 pounds/95 kilograms) kickboxers, at Hammerstein Ballroom at Manhattan Center in New York City on Saturday, June 22, Glory Sports International (GSI) announced today.

“We are excited to enter Tyrone into this historic, first GLORY championship series event in the U.S. that will determine who is physically and mentally the top athlete in kickboxing’s light heavyweight division,” said Glory Sports International CEO Andrew Whitaker. 

“Tyrone’s recent performances in the ring have distinguished him as one of the best and most powerful martial arts fighters in the world who can showcase our great sport at its highest level,” continued Whitaker, “so we look forward to seeing him compete against the other superstars who have been enlisted for action in the tournament.”

In his last GLORY start on March 23, Spong, a member of the vaunted Blackzilians fight squad that boasts the likes of fellow martial arts fighting greats Rashad Evans, Alistair Overeem and Vitor Belfort, triggered a changing of the guard in the ring at ExCel Arena in London, England, decimating Remy “The Flying Gentleman” Bonjasky, a three-time champion of the old K-1 series and one of kickboxing’s greatest athletes of all time, with a vicious right hook in the second round (2:02) of their highly-anticipated main event showdown.

The explosive KO marked Spong’s fifth consecutive kickboxing victory.  One fight prior, on June 30, 2012, Spong toppled another icon of the sport and future Hall of Famer, Peter Aerts, scoring a thunderous KO on Aerts in the third round (2:10) of their matchup in Brussels, Belgium.

Since turning professional as a middleweight in 2003 and winning 12 fights that year, Spong, a former protégé of retired heavyweight kickboxing legend Ernesto Hoost, has since climbed his way to the top in four different weight divisions.  He has faced and defeated a host of top-ranked rivals in addition to Bonjasky and Aerts, including Kaoklai Kaennorsing, Ray Sefo and Melvin Manhoef. 

Tickets for GLORY 9 New York, priced from $48 (plus handling fees), are on sale at all Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com and charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000.

Also slated for battle in the star-studded, eight-man single-elimination tournament, are hard-hitting KO artist Brian Collette (19-1, 16 KOs) of Norfolk, Va.; developmental Road To GLORY USA light heavyweight tournament winner Dustin Jacoby (9-3, 7 KOs) of Arenzville, Illin.; four-time world champion Danyo Ilunga (51-4, 41 KOs) of Germany; Muay Thai sensation Filip Verlinden (40-9-1, 16 KOs) of Belgium; Aerts-protégé Mourad “The Silent Power” Bouzidi (75-20-2, 34 KOs) of Tunisia; world Muay Thai and Karate champion Steve McKinnon (42-5, 29 KOs) of Australia; and Michael Duut (38-3, 17 KOs) of The Netherlands.

The GLORY 9 New York light heavyweight tournament’s quarterfinal stage matchups will be announced soon.

In one of several Superfights also scheduled for the event, heavyweight superstar and former secret service agent Daniel “The Savage Samurai” Ghita (46-9, 35 KOs) of Romania will face Muay Thai champion Brice Guidon (28-8, 13 KOs) of France.

In other Superfight action, hard-hitting “Bazooka” Joseph Valtellini (8-1, 7 KOs) of Toronto, Ontario Canada will square off with fellow rising star Francois Ambang (9-2, 4 KOs) of Mechanicsville, Va. in a welterweight (170 pounds/77 kilograms) matchup. 

Valtellini has earned six of his eight professional career victories in New York.   Ambang emerged the winner of the development, eight-man, developmental Road To GLORY USA tournament, created to identify new talent and potential future champions for GLORY’s championship series, at New York City’s Capitale on March 22.

Phil Nurse protégé Brett Hlavacek (8-1, 3 KOs) of New York, N.Y., the runner-up in the developmental Road To GLORY USA  tournament on March 22, will face three-time Muay Thai titlist Paul Marfort (10-5, 4 KOs) of Orlando, Fla. at welterweight. 

Additional Superfights will be announced soon.

Doors at Hammerstein Ballroom will open at 5 p.m. EST and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6 p.m.

For more information, visit www.gloryworldseries.com.

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