GLORY 87 Official Full Card Preview

GLORY returns to Rotterdam this Saturday after the promotion has been silent since GLORY 86 in Could. GLORY 87 is about to be an impressive card to capped off with a large title combat.

GLORY 87 Combat Card Preview

Major Occasion: Tyjani Beztati vs Kaito Ono

Tyjani Beztati has dominated because the king of GLORY’s light-weight division since profitable the belt in 2021 again at GLORY 78 with a win over Elvis Gashi. Since then Beztati has gone on to make three profitable defences of the belt in opposition to stellar competitors. The likes of Josh Jauncey, Stoyan Koprivlenski, and Petchpanomrung have all tried and did not defeat Beztati and take the crown for themselves. Beztati can use his peak and attain to nice impact and standing at 6ft 3” he’s among the many tallest lightweights on this planet and is an skilled at hanging with out being hit. Solely dropping 5 instances in his profession, Beztati has remained undefeated for the final 4 years together with his final loss coming to Marat Grigorian who has established himself as probably the greatest fighters on the planet. Beztati was solely 21 on the time of the loss. Now simply on the younger age of 25, Beztati will likely be hoping to efficiently make a 4th protection of the belt in what will likely be his thirtieth professional combat and proceed a title reign that folks will likely be speaking about for a very long time to come back.

Kaito Ono will likely be making his debut in GLORY but his CV speaks for itself. The Japanese fighter has fought in numerous promotions the world over and most not too long ago gained the RISE Middleweight championship earlier this 12 months. Ono like Beztati, remains to be on the younger age of 25 but regardless of this has fought virtually 60 instances. 52 wins and solely 6 defeats with one no-contest tells us that that is a particularly skillful fighter who’s greater than able to competing with the perfect on this planet. Ono will not be small for the burden class both, standing at 5ft 11”, and won’t be on the identical measurement drawback as earlier opponents of Beztati, reminiscent of Petch. Alongside this Ono possesses a win over earlier title contender Stoyan Koprivlenski which he secured simply final 12 months. He represents a particularly powerful problem and Beztati should be on his finest kind if he has any likelihood of stopping the Japanese sensation.

Heavyweight Match Fights

Uku Jurjendal vs Martin Terpstra

Heavyweight Tournaments are at all times a superb solution to generate hype for a card, with a spot on the December Grand Prix on the road and the possibility to win $500,000 every thing is at stake for these fighters. Uku Jurjendal will likely be seeking to placed on an announcement and cement his place at this December Grand Prix. Coming off a first-round KO in his final GLORY outing, Jurjendal is driving a critical wave of momentum. Possessing devastating KO energy as seen in his final combat, Jurjendal possesses 18 wins on his file, 14 of those coming by knockout. The Estonian Heavyweight stands at 6ft 3” and weighs round 113 kg or 250 lbs. Presently sitting at quantity 10 within the Heavyweight rankings the Estonian Powerhouse will likely be seeking to safe one other first-round KO this Saturday night time, 2 of them if attainable.

Martin Terpstra will likely be making his GLORY debut and possesses a transparent benefit over Jurjendal in a single specific facet. The spectacular peak of 6ft 9” signifies that Terpstra is among the many tallest fighters in kickboxing as we speak and grants him a attain and peak benefit in virtually each contest he’s in. Whereas attain benefits imply nothing if a fighter doesn’t have the ability to associate with it Terpstra definitely does with him being a 2-time Enfusion champion. Having made his debut in GLORY final 12 months choosing up a KO victory Terpstra will likely be seeking to make a reputation for himself and e book a spot at this 12 months’s Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Bahram Rajabzadeh vs Mohamed Amine

It is a hotly anticipated matchup, two mild heavyweights by nature, Bahram Rajabzadeh and Mohamed Amine have proven that they’re among the many most technical fighters within the division. Rajabzadeh captivated minds in his final efficiency which resulted in an immaculate head kick knockout victory for him over an always-game Luis Tavares. A bodily specimen Rajabzadeh possesses big quantities of energy as is evidenced by his unimaginable file, probably essentially the most spectacular file in kickboxing as we speak. The Azerbaijani has fought 63 instances, dropping only one bout. This was his GLORY debut again at GLORY 69. Of his 62 victories 56 have ended through KO. That’s staggering. Whereas many could have thought that his file was deceptive provided that he misplaced his first outing in GLORY, a loss to former GLORY Gentle Heavyweight champion Sergej Maslobojev is nothing to be sniffed at and the win in opposition to Tavares confirmed the GLORY followers what Rajabzadeh is all about and the abilities that he has.

Mohamed Amine sadly will not be coming off fairly as a powerful final efficiency. Combating at GLORY Collision 5, Amine would choose up a loss in opposition to Tarik Khbabez. Stepping in on brief discover Amine had not had the time to organize for the relentless onslaught that Tarik is famous for at all times bringing and easily didn’t have the fuel tank to face up to the continual quantity that Khbabez was capable of output. Nonetheless regardless of this efficiency followers are properly conscious of his true potential and skillset as was evidenced in his extraordinarily spectacular win over Michael Duut. A ready Amine is a quick and agile striker able to using a wide range of strikes and strategies to complete a combat. With 16 KOs out of 29 wins, the Moroccan hits laborious, admittedly not as laborious as Rajabzadeh but greater than sufficient to trigger injury to anybody he faces. If he arrives to this combat as the identical fighter or higher than the model who fought Duut we may have an actual combat on our fingers right here.

Major Card

Murthel Groenhart vs Cihad Akipa

Former welterweight champion Murthel Groenhart makes his GLORY return after being defeated by Endy Semeleer in his final outing. Groenhart will likely be seeking to climb his means again up the rankings after being defeated in his final title problem. Know for his bouts with Cedric Doumbe and his time as GLORY Welterweight champion Groenhart will likely be seeking to present that’s nonetheless succesful o placing on efficiency and capable of grasp with the most effective within the enterprise. A win on Saturday leaves him in good standing to make his means again up the Welterweight division and probably purpose for a combat with somebody like Jay Overmeer subsequent as he hopes to someday rematch Endy Semeleer to achieve the championship that he as soon as held.

His opponent Cihad Akipa will likely be making his GLORY debut at Welterweight after shifting up from Light-weight. Akipa final misplaced to French Light-weight contender Guerric Billet and has regarded to maneuver on to new pastures with a transfer up a weight class. He couldn’t have hoped for a greater first opponent as a combat in opposition to Murthel Groenhart represents the chance to combat a legend, introduce himself to a a lot bigger fanbase, and finally have a win over a former GLORY champion in his file, a really prestigious factor. He will likely be seeking to begin his profession at Welterweight with a bang and a win over Groenhart can be simply the springboard he must catapult his means up the rankings at his new weight class.

Michael Boapeah vs Sergej Braun

Combat followers are additionally blessed with a title eliminator for the middleweight division at GLORY 87. Michael Boapeah has taken the Middleweight division by storm and has established himself as its primary contender since becoming a member of GLORY again in 2022 making his debut at GLORY 81. In lower than a 12 months he has gone from an unknown commodity to a primary contender in what has really been a exceptional rise. Going 3-1 within the promotion, the Ghanaian has picked up victories over the likes of Florian Kroger, Ertugrul Bayrak, and most not too long ago in opposition to Ulric Bokeme whose enamel he knocked out of his mouth within the very first spherical. Boapeah will likely be glad within the data {that a} win on Saturday night time virtually ensures him a title shot in opposition to present Middleweight king Donovan Wisse. A combat that Boapeah has referred to as for repeatedly.

Seeking to cease him will likely be Sergej Braun. Braun has solely fought twice in GLORY to date going 1-1, but sits at quantity 3 within the Middleweight ranks. His loss got here by the hands of former title challenger Serkan Ozcaglayan whereas his lone win got here in opposition to none apart from Michael Boapeah. Sure in Boapeah’s 3-1 file Braun is the 1. The 2 met at GLORY Collision 4 the place Braun was profitable in choosing up the Majority Choice win. Braun will likely be seeking to replicate this feat come Saturday night time and two clear-cut wins over the present number-one contender would certainly be greater than sufficient to warrant Braun with a shot at Donovan Wisse’s championship belt.

Jan Kaffa vs Mohamed El Hammouti

Jan Kaffa burst onto the scene at GLORY 85 the place he delivered a combat of the night time efficiency in opposition to extremely rated prospect Berjan Peposhi. Kaffa showcased his capacity to utilise all kinds of strikes and spinning assaults and whereas many thought he was introduced in to easily be added to Peposhi’s spotlight reel Kaffa confirmed that if something the alternative was true. Spinning elbows and backfists repeatedly discovered their goal and Kaffa regarded just like the extra dynamic and skillful striker between the 2 males. Now seeking to construct on that wonderful efficiency Kaffa will likely be taking over the Moroccan Mohamed El Hammouti in his second outing with GLORY. Now after grabbing himself a rating within the Featherweight division Kaffa sits at quantity 7 and is aware of that one or two related performances to his combat in opposition to Peposhi will certainly grant him a shot on the title sooner relatively than later.

Mohamed El Hammouti is amazingly even youthful than Kaffa. At 22 Hammouti remains to be very uncooked with lower than ten fights in his profession to date. Possessing critical energy he has achieved a KO end in 4 of his 7 wins and his one loss got here at GLORY 82 the place he took on former Featherweight contender Ahmad Chikh Mousa who himself is likely one of the prime skills within the group. A win for Hammouti would get the wheels turning on his profession in GLORY and permit him to begin starting to assemble his title problem.