GLORY IS BACK - Fightnews Asia

GLORY announces its return to action on 2 and 3 October 2020 with back-to-back events in the Netherlands for GLORY 76 and 77. Events will take place at Haanger 2, a former Dutch naval base located in the historic Katwijk aan Zee near Amsterdam. GLORY looks forward to bringing combat back to the base.

GLORY 76 on October 2nd will be headlined by a 4-man middleweight contender tournament featuring Yousri Belgaroui, Matěj Peňáz, Ertugrul Bayrak, and Ulric Bokeme. The winner of this tournament will earn the right to challenge GLORY champion Alex Pereira for the middleweight belt. Other scheduled bouts will feature Nordine Mahieddine, Junior Tafa, Luke Whelan, Mohamed Hendouf, Alim Nabiyev and Eyevan Danenberg.

GLORY 77 on October 3rd will be headlined by welterweight champion Cédric Doumbé taking on a welterweight contender soon to be announced. Other bouts scheduled for the night include the welterweight heavy hitters Harut Grigorian vs Yoann Kongolo, Tyjani Beztati vs Itay Gershon and GLORY heavyweights Antonio Plazibat, Arkadiusz Wrzosek, D’Angelo Marshall and Martin Pacas.

Following close co-operation with licensing authorities and health and safety partners, an audience of 200 attendees per night will be allowed to watch the fights live. These events will be broadcast live around the world with GLORY’s media partners in over 100 countries. Full fight card details will be announced in the coming weeks.

GLORY is also pleased to reveal it is in planning stages for the biggest card in the history of kickboxing in December 2020. The event will be headlined by the best heavyweight fighters in the world including Rico Verhoeven, Badr Hari, and Jamal Ben Saddik, who will compete on the same night. In addition to a world heavyweight championship fight, four GLORY world championship belts will also be on the line. The event is in planning stages due to the intention for a large live audience to be present, and the health and safety concerns related to COVID-19. GLORY will confirm this date and location as soon as practicable.

Fight card, broadcast and ticketing details for these events will be announced in the coming weeks. Fans can stay informed by signing up for the GLORY Fight Club email newsletter at http://www.glorykickboxing.com/register

Ticket holders for the GLORY 76 Antwerp and GLORY 77 “Badr vs Benny” events that were postponed due to the coronavirus will be issued a voucher and able to use the credit for the upcoming GLORY events. If unable to attend on the rescheduled date, fans will have the option to receive a refund or have the value of their ticket used as a credit toward a future GLORY event. More details will be shared soon.

Can’t wait to watch GLORY until October? GLORY shows now available to watch on regional sports networks across the USA

From July 7th and running through September 2020, GLORY fans in the United States will be able to watch past GLORY events weekly on up to 18 regional sports networks covering in excess of 80MM homes nationwide. Fans are invited to check local TV listings for specific viewing times.

GLORY corporate restructuring

Following the profound changes in the sports world due to the impact of the coronavirus on transportation, logistics, and quarantines around the world, Glory Sports International entered receivership. The assets of the organization have been purchased by a new group of owners based in the UK. Pierre Andurand continues as Chairman and Scott Rudmann continues as Executive Vice-Chairman. A number of key senior executives of the global business remain in place, with Robbie Timmers taking the role of Head of Talent Operations, Bill Borson remaining in place as Head of Production and Operations, and Jon Martone as Head of Partnerships and Marketing. Cor Hemmers continues as a Senior Advisor and Kickboxing Ambassador.

“The organization has emerged from the corona cloud into a leaner, more efficient organization, able to react quickly and actually operate in these times which are the most challenging ever faced by sports and entertainment companies worldwide. The new ownership group looks forward to being able to continue bringing the absolute best stand-up combat to fans and media partners around the world, it’s once again time for GLORY” said Scott Rudmann, Executive Vice-Chairman.