Earlier this year, the world’s new #1 kickboxing organization made their debut in the US, staging a show in New York. Clearly, the team at Glory was happy with the results – and that’s a good thing for US fans.
Glory has now announced three more US shows to close out 2013: Glory 10 Los Angeles on September 28, Glory 11 Chicago October 12, and Glory 12 New York November 9. Full details, including ticket information for all three cards is available at Glory’s official website. And just in case this isn’t enough good news for you, how about this – Glory’s fall shows will begin their deal with Spike.
The US has long been ignored by major international kickboxing organizations. K-1 made a few attempts in Las Vegas and Hawaii primarily, but for the most part, there has been little success at running kickboxing in the US previously. Now, with the UFC reaching more of a mainstream audience, and with the backing of Spike TV behind them, Glory is banking on the US in a big way – these shows are all they have currently announced. It’s a gamble, but if it pays off, the results could be great as Glory taps into a new market. We’ll have to see how that goes in the long-run, but for now, it’s safe to say that any US fan of kickboxing has reason to rejoice. After a rough few years, we now have live kickboxing on our shores and on our TV screens. Color me excited.
Details on the three upcoming Glory US shows:
Glory 10 Los Angeles September 28
The highlight here is a 4 man Middleweight tournament, featuring Joe Schilling vs. Stephen Wakeling and Artem Levin vs. Jason Wilnis in the semi-finals. Levin is the favorite here, and should be able to take this. Also on the card: K-1 legend Jerome Le Banner vs. Pride and Strikeforce veteran Sergei Kharitonov, and, in a tremendous fight for the hardcore fans, Robin van Roosmalen vs. Shemsi Beqiri. That one should be incredible. Add in Davit Kiria vs. Murthel Groenhart, Andy Ristie vs. Sanny Dahlbeck, Albert Kraus vs. Jordan Watson and a number of other quality fights and you have a great show. Full fight card here. UPDATE: This card actually will not be on Spike, as the TV deal begins with Glory 11. Our apologies for the confusion.
Glory 11 Chicago October 12
Only 5 fights are announced for this so far, but for my money this is the best line-up of all three. In the main event, Tyrone Spong takes on Nathan Corbett in a rematch kickboxing and Muay Thai fans have been clamoring for. We’ll go into more detail on that fight as the show draws near. You also have a 4 man Heavyweight tournament, with Gokhan Saki vs. Rico Verhoeven and Daniel Ghita vs. Anderson Silva (and, as must always be said, no, not that Anderson Silva). No offense to Verhoeven and Silva, but if one of them spoils a Ghita vs. Saki final, there will be trouble. You also have Errol Zimmerman vs. Hesdy Gerges on this stacked show.
Glory 12 New York November 9
This takes place the the MSG Theater and has only one fighter announced so far – but what a fighter it is. The world’s #1 P4P kickboxer Giorgio Petrosyan will be competing here as part of a Lightweight world title tournament. Petrosyan is simply incredible – there is no one who Glory can put in here that will not make Petrosyan the overwhelming favorite, but still, he’s a fighter that demands to be watched. This will be the US debut for the Doctor.
Get excited folks, and be ready to welcome Glory to the US!
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