Four GLORY Superfight Series bouts have been confirmed for the upcoming GLORY 12 event taking place at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York on Saturday November 23.
Francois Ambang (10-3, 2 KO’s), winner of the welterweight ‘Road to Glory’ tournament in March this year, will face Eddie ‘Showtime’ Walker (11-3-1, 9 KO’s) in what will be Walker’s debut at 170lbs/77kgs following a drop from middleweight.
Walker, who counts Brian Stann and Douglas Lima among his training partners, was the runner-up in the ‘Road to Glory’ middleweight tournament, earning him a GLORY contract, but lost to Steve Wakeling in his GLORY 5 LONDON debut.
Virginia-based light-heavyweight Brian ‘The Lion’ Collette (20-2, 17 KO’s) returns to action following his victory over Randy ‘Boom Boom’ Blake at GLORY 10 LOS ANGELES. He faces the debuting Warren Thompson (9-1-2), a Muay Thai stylist based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thompson has achieved parallel success in kickboxing and in MMA. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter season 11 and his sparring partners have included Frank Mir and Todd Duffee. His first love remains Muay Thai and he trains under Khunpon, a legend of the Bangkok stadiums.
Artem Vakhitov (9-4, 3 KO’s) and Nenad Pagonis (6-2, 3 KO’s) will meet in a match of hard-hitting light-heavyweights. Vakhitov made his debut at GLORY 9 with a stunning body-shot finish of Luis Tavares in the first round of their fight. Part of a wave of Russian talent entering the GLORY ranks, Vakhitov is as talented as he is unorthodox.
Pagonis is finally making his long-awaited first appearance for GLORY. One of the top amateur competitors on the European circuit, Pagonis turned professional in 2010 and fans are looking forward to seeing what impact he can make on the GLORY light-heavyweight division.
And finally, Dustin Jacoby (4-2, 3 KO’s) looks to climb the light-heavyweight ladder when he takes on Japan’s Makoto Uehara (15-4-1, 9 KO’s). Jacoby was the winner of the first ever ‘Road to Glory’ tournament, stopping three opponents in one night to earn a GLORY contract. Incredibly, he entered the tournament on just 48hours notice.
Uehara is a Shidokan Karate black belt and former K-1 fighter. He recently defeated Kengo Shimizu to win a domestic Japanese title and now joins Shimizu in the GLORY ranks. Uehara holds victories over Stefan Leko and Yang Soo Park among others.
GLORY 12 NEW YORK takes place Saturday, November 23 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. The event’s centerpiece is a four-man Lightweight Championship Tournament which will air live on Spike TV.
The tournament line-up comprises the best pound-per-pound kickboxer in the world Giorgio Petrosyan, the knockout artist Robin Van Roosmalen, karate stylist Davit Kiria and ‘The Machine’ Andy Ristie. They are competing for a grand prize of $150,000.
