Jamie Bates (24-6, 3 KO's) earned himself a GLORY contract with a standout performance at a Road to GLORY event in the UK earlier this year.
He made his debut at GLORY 40 COPENHAGEN with a decision win over Chicago's Richard Abraham (11-5, 4 KO's), who has been making his presence felt in the welterweight division since his own debut at GLORY 27 early last year.
Bates admits he felt huge pressure going into his debut for the world's premier kickboxing league but now wants to use that momentum to start climbing the ladder in one of the sport's toughest weight classes.
“There was a lot of pressure for this fight, I felt as though I had the world on my shoulders at one point. I have wanted this for so long, I wanted to go out there and make a really good statement for myself,” he says.
“Now I have got that fight out of the way, the weight is off my shoulder. I think somewhere mid-table is a good place to start with. I want to build my profile and then start chasing the top boys.”
Bates is confident that he has the tools to hang with the top names in the division but he isn't letting a successful debut go to his head. “Every fight I am improving, I don't rely on my ego, I rely on skills and training and hard work,” he affirms.
In between now and his next fight, Bates will go back to work as a falconer, training birds of prey in his native Durham in north-east England. He says he would like to get on the upcoming GLORY 43 NEW YORK card - “It's every fighter's dream to compete at Madison Square Garden” - but if that doesn't happen then he just wants to “get back in there as soon as possible”.
GLORY's next event takes place Saturday, May 20 in the Netherlands as world heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven headlines GLORY 41 HOLLAND against domestic champion Ismael Lazaar. The card also features Robin van Roosmalen facing Petchpanomrung for the vacant featherweight championship.
