Glory 20 is in the books, and it was a big night for the kickboxing company as they crowned a new champion, set up a big Middleweight title fight, and saw an impressive and dominant championship performance from their Lightweight champ. Here are the details, plus main event action via Zombie Prophet.
LW Title: Robin van Roosmalen def. Andy Ristie, UD 49-44, 49-44, 49-44
Despite being the challenger, Andy Ristie came in as the heavy favorite here, but it was Robin van Roosmalen who dominated the fight. Ristie had a few moments early, but by the midway point, van Roosmalen was in clear control, landing heavy shots that rocked Ristie again and again while appearing unfazed by anything Ristie threw at him. Ristie went down twice in the 4th, and in all honesty, the fight should never have been allowed to head into the 5th, but Ristie simply refused to go down. It didn’t matter though – van Roosmalen was too tough and retains his belt in a dominant performance.
FW Title: Gabriel Varga def. Mosab Amrani, UD 50-46, 48-47, 49-46
Very fun and energetic fight here that saw Varga become the first ever Glory Featherweight champion. Amrani controlled the fight early, winning round 1. Rounds 2 and 3 saw things begin to swing in Varga’s direction, and by round 4, he was more firmly in control. Amrani was rocked a number of times, but he kept pushing forward and swinging heavy shots. Still, he wasn’t landing as effectively, and in the end, the judges correctly valued the effective striking of Varga over the more wild aggression of Amrani. Excellent fight, and a big world title win for Varga.
Middleweight Tournament:
Final: Simon Marcus def. Jason Wilnis, SD 28-30, 30-27, 29-28
Semifinal: Simon Marcus def. Wayne Barrett, UD 29-28, 29-28, 30-27
Semifinal: Jason Wilnis def. Alex Pereira, UD 28-27, 28-27, 29-28
When Simon Marcus was announced as a new Glory signing, the hardcore kickboxing fans were excited. Tonight, he showed why. It may not have been the most flashy performance of all time, but Marcus showed his technical superiority all night, controlling both opponents to take the tournament crown. His final against Wilnis was more spirited, with some heated, exciting exchanges that allowed Marcus to really show his stuff. He now moves on to a rematch with Artem Levin (Marcus won their first meeting) with Glory gold on the line.
The tournament opened with Marcus defeating Barrett by decision in a rather slow affair. Both men came in with two recent losses, and both needed the win badly here. The result was a very cautious fight, with neither man ever pulling the trigger and delivering much action. That makes three straight losses for the once 5-0 and top 3 ranked Barrett.
If the Marcus vs. Barrett semifinal was slow and cautious, the Wilnis vs. Pereira fight was the complete antithesis. The two men tore into each other right from the opening bell. Wilnis took the early advantage with a knockdown in the first round and seemed to be cruising towards a victory when Pereira dropped him in the 3rd. Wilnis regained his feet, threw down, and ended the fight with a wild and entertaining flurry. Very good fight here that continues to show the evolution of Wilnis.
Glory will be back in action with Glory 21 on May 8, featuring Artem Levin vs. Simon Marcus for the Glory Middleweight championship.
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