Glory 32 fight card preview: Superfight Series on UFC Fight Pass

This Friday night, Glory presents Glory 32 Virginia, headlined by aFeatherweight world title fight and a good Light Heavyweight tournament. Glory 32 airs live this Friday, July 22 with a fight time of 10:00 p.m. ET for the main card on ESPN3. Before that, the Glory Superfight Series will air live on UFC Fight Pass with a fight time of 7:30 p.m. ET. Here, we break down the complete Superfight card – check back later this week for the main card.

#12 CHI LEWIS-PARRY (6-1 Overall; 2-1 Glory) vs. #17 MAURICE GREENE (4-2 Overall; 1-1 Glory) – Heavyweight
The main event here is a clash between two men vying for a prominent role in the future of the Heavyweight division. Though both have pretty limited records, Lewis-Parry is the more known fighter thanks in part to his big personality and skill for self-promotion. He had a big Glory debut in 2015, but lost in a tournament final to Xavier Vigney. Lewis-Parry also spends time in MMA, where he is 6-0. Greene was last seen in Glory toughing out a decision loss to Anderson Silva where the veteran absolutely abused Greene’s legs with kicks. Neither has big experience, but Lewis-Parry seems more polished than the still quite raw Greene – look for him to get back on the ball with a win.
Prediction: Chi Lewis-Parry, KO

#5 ANDERSON SILVA (39-14-1 Overall; 5-6 Glory) vs. GORDON HAUPT (20-6-1 Overall; Glory Debut) – Heavyweight
Kind of a weird fight here that honestly doesn’t make a ton of sense. Silva is a decorated and skilled veteran, ranked at #5 in the world and capable of giving any Heavyweight on the planet a tough fight. He’s not been able to quite get over the hump to being a true contender, but he’s a very skilled fighter. Haupt is an unranked, unheralded German fighter making his debut for Glory. He’s competed for Enfusion, but never won against anyone remotely at this level. To say he has a tough out for his debut is putting it very mildly.
Prediction: Anderson Silva, Dec

FUNDA ALKAYIS (28-2 Overall; Glory Debut) vs. VANESSA DE WAELE (0-1 Overall; Glory Debut) – Super Bantamweight
This is the reserve fight for the ongoing Glory Women’s Super Bantamweight Grand Prix. So far we’ve seen Tiffany Van Soest and Isis Verbeek advance – winner here will see if an injury allows her into the tournament and a shot at the inaugural Glory title. Neither of these women are particularly known. Turkey’s Alkayis comes from a Muay Thai background, as does Belgium’s De Waele. De Waele has more amateur experience than her record indicates, but it’s hard to pick against Alkayis given the disparity in records.
Prediction: Funda Alkayis, Dec

#12 FRANCOIS AMBANG (15-6 Overall, 3-4 Glory) vs. MICHAEL STEVENS (8-5 Overall; Glory Debut) – Welterweight
Ambang has a fair amount of Glory experience, including a win in a Road to Glory tournament, and a trip to the Glory 30 tournament finals. He’s also immortalized in Glory highlight reels for being on the receiving end of the Raymond Daniels kick. Ambang trains out of Virginia and scored an emotional KO win the last time they were here for Glory 19. He’ll try to repeat that moment against the debuting Stevens, a younger fighter with experience fighting for FFC. Ambang is the easy pick thanks to his Glory experience, but Stevens is a hungry fighter looking to move up – I like him as the spoiler in this one.
Prediction: Michael Stevens, Dec

#9 GIGA CHIKADZE (34-4 Overall, 2-1 Glory) vs. CHRIS MAUCERI (7-2 Overall; Glory Debut) – Featherweight
This is my pick for fight of the night – a potential barn-burner in the Featherweight division. Chikadze is an aggressive, somewhat unorthodox fighter who has had good success in Glory. He comes in off a very exciting win at Glory 27, and has used a wide range of flashy weapons to impress during his Glory run. Mauceri makes his Glory debut, but he’s no stranger to big fights, having previously competed under Muay Thai rules for Lion Fight. There, Mauceri holds a loss to the excellent Kevin Ross, plus a terrific spinning elbow KO. He’ll have to adapt his techniques for the Glory ruleset, but you can bet he will come in with something different to offer the more experienced Chikadze. I’m looking forward to this one.
Prediction: Giga Chikadze, Dec

Also on the Superfight Series is the latest in Glory’s Armed Forces Exhibition fights. This one has Air Force representative Cedric Smith taking on Navy rep Roger Corbin. Smith was featured in the Armed Forces fight at Glory 19, defeating James Hurley to win the inaugural Glory military championship title.

Join us here at Bloody Elbow on Friday for live Glory 32 coverage.