Yesterday, we reported on the K-1 May 27 card, featuring Badr Hari vs. Anderson Silva, Mirko Cro Cop back in K-1, and the 2012 K-1 World MAX Grand Prix Final 16. That’s a huge card. But the amazing thing is, it might not even be the biggest kickboxing card happening that weekend.
One day earlier, on May 26, Glory World Series (formerly known as United Glory) will hold their second event of 2012, and like the K-1 show, it’s stacked. Taking place in Stockholm, the Glory show will also feature the opening round in a 70kg tournament, plus some major Heavyweight action.
The tournament will be structured like K-1 MAX, with a round of 16 at this event and the tournament continuing later in the year. The big news for Glory is that their tournament will feature Giorgio Petrosyan, undeniably the best 70kg kickboxer in the world. His involvement essentially guarantees that, with two tournaments running at the same time, it will be the Glory winner who ends up viewed as the sport’s #1.
Also in the tournament for Glory are Robin van Roosmalen, Yoshihiro Sato, and Bellator fighter Cosmo Alexandre. When you compare it to the K-1 MAX GP, I have to give the edge to Glory for the strength of the line-up.
Not surprisingly, the two companies are not exactly establishing a cordial working relationship at the moment. With both K-1 (together with It’s Showtime) and Glory making big power moves to become the kickboxing industry leader, there has been a lot of controversy and back-and-forth in recent weeks. We’ll cover it all later this week, but it’s definitely a situation to keep an eye on.
K-1 May 27 Card: Badr Hari, Cro Cop, And The 2012 K-1 MAX Grand Prix
The Glory card will also feature a Heavyweight main event superfight, as Semmy Schilt faces Errol Zimmerman. These two met in 2010 with Schilt coming out on top, and while I suspect he’ll take the win again, a lot has changed since that fight. Schilt has been essentially inactive, while Zimmerman has revitalized his career with an eight fight win streak. I’m more excited for this rematch than I was the original.
As of right now, it doesn’t look like this show will air on HDNet, but Glory typically makes their shows available in a live stream. We’ll have details closer to the event.
Check the complete article for the full line-up.
GLORY World Series First 16
May 26, 2012
Stockholm, Sweden70kg tournament fights:
Giorgio Petrosyan (Italy) vs Fabio Pinca (France)
Max Vorovski (Estonia) vs Sanny Dahlbeck (Sweden)
Robin van Roosmalen (Netherlands) vs Dzhabar Askerov (Russia)
Ky Hollenback (USA) vs Michael Corley (USA)
Yoshihiro Sato (Japan) vs Shemsi Beqiri (Switserland)
Dennis Schneidmiller (Germany) vs Qi Chenglong (China)
Kem Sitsongpeenong (Thailand) vs Cosmo Alexandre (Brasil)
Albert Kraus (Netherlands) vs Mohamed El Mir (Denmark)Super Fights:
Nieky Holzken vs Alex Harris (Sweden)
Semmy Schilt (Netherlands) vs Errol Zimmerman (Curacao)
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