When Raymond ‘Real Deal’ Daniels first signed for GLORY there were snorts of derision from the kickboxing hardcore; they didn’t see his karate style and background in light-contact translating well to the ring. Daniels has proved them wrong in fine fashion, scoring some of the best knockouts in the organization’s history.
Los Angeles man Daniels is now in fact one of the division’s top contenders. His only two losses in GLORY are to the champion Joe Valtellini (GLORY 13 welterweight tournament semi-finals) and the #1 contender Nieky Holzken (GLORY 19 welterweight contender tournament, final), which says a lot.
Daniels’ game is so unique that only the most elite in the division have been able to deal with it. mid-tier talents like Francois Ambang and UFC veteran Brian Foster thought that forward pressure would be enough and learned the hard way that it was not. Both were highlight-reel KO’s but the finish of Ambang in particular was so spectacular that it has clocked up more than 500,000 views on YouTube alone.
On paper Baesman doesn’t have much chance. Like the aforementioned Foster he is an MMA fighter who favors striking, and we saw how that ended for Foster. What is different about Baesman however is that his own striking style is drawn in part from a similar heritage to Daniels’ and includes a lot of what Baesman jokingly calls his ‘flying ninja attacks’.
For me Daniels is one of the toughest fights in the welterweight division right now and only the slickest and most durable opponents are going to get past him. Nieky Holzken privately admitted after their GLORY 19 fight that Daniels’ spin kicks “hurt like f–k” and they are one of the key dangers you can expect to face when trying to walk him down and shut his space off.
The fact that Baesman is no stranger to an unorthodox striking game is a point in his favor but at the same time, can he really be expected to out-Daniels Daniels? The probability is low. We’ll have to wait and see what kind of approach Baesman takes in his kickboxing debut, but it would be a surprise if he was able to figure Daniels out.
Dave Walsh, Liverkick
“I’m not sure that there is much to say about this fight. No slight intended towards Baesman but he’s making his kickboxing debut against Raymond Daniels.
“Daniels has a ways to go before he is a complete kickboxer as opposed to a martial artist, but he demonstrated a lot in the GLORY Welterweight Contender’s tournament at GLORY 19. This is a fight where they are hoping and praying that Daniels scores another crazy KO that goes viral, methinks.”
Andreas Georgiou, MMA Plus
“Raymond Daniels is always impressive but I would much rather have seen him against originally scheduled opponent Chad Sugden.
“Instead Chad had a prior commitment to an IKF world title fight in a couple of weeks hence the replacement by Justin Baesman. Expect the unexpected… well, it’s quite predictable now from Daniels, but it doesn’t make it any less awesome.”
Michael ‘Stets’ Steczkowski, MMA Mania
“Daniels returns after a disappointing GLORY 19 tournament loss to Nieky Holzken, where he was badly outclassed. However, he did fight hard and showed a lot of toughness in that fight, and looked great in the semi-final victory over Jonatan Oliveira.
“Justin Baesman has been a regional MMA journey man for most of his career and didn’t fare well in either Bellator or WSOF, posting a 1-3-1 record. “Real Deal” against “Raw Deal,” and for Baseman, he will be handed his nickname on a silver platter. This has Daniels by TKO written all over it. I’d say half way through the first round too. I’m guessing it will be of the spinning back kick variety.”
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