Glory (kickboxing)
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Kickboxing promotion |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Pierre Andurand, Marcus Luer, Scott Rudmann, Total Sports Asia |
| Headquarters | 30, Raffles Place, Level 17, Chevron House, Singapore |
Key people |
Pierre Andurand (chairman, majority shareholder) Jon J. Franklin (CEO) Scott Rudmann (director) Cor Hemmers (matchmaker) |
| Owner | Glory Sports International Pte Ltd. |
| Website | http://www.glorykickboxing.com/ |
Glory (stylized as GLORY) and formerly Glory World Series is an international kickboxing promotion company founded in 2012 by Glory Sports International Pte Ltd. partners Pierre Andurand, Marcus Luer, Scott Rudmann and Total Sports Asia. The company has its headquarters in Singapore.
History
When K-1, historically the world's premier kickboxing organization, began suffering from extreme financial difficulties in 2011, Total Sports Asia, TSA CEO Marcus Luer, London-based French investor Pierre Andurand, and Scott Rudmann of Nectar Capital attempted to buy the brand. When K-1 was instead sold to Gunil "Mike" Kim and EMCOM Entertainment Inc., Pierre Andurand, TSA, and the other investors decided to start a brand new label and kickboxing organisation called GLORY, and bought United Glory, Golden Glory and It's Showtime in order to secure a top event production team, and to secure all the top fighters in the world.[1] Pierre Andurand, Marcus Luer, and Scott Rudmann derived the name 'GLORY' for the new brand from Golden Glory.
The name GLORY has caused some confusion to arise as to Golden Glory's role with the new organization. GLORY has clarified that Golden Glory, like the It's Showtime organization, was bought and absorbed by the investment team headed by Pierre Andurand, and not the other way around.[2] A number of people formerly involved with It's Showtime, the Golden Glory team and the United Glory event became GLORY consultants, though Simon Rutz, the founder and former owner of It's Showtime, has departed the company.[3]
GSI signed most of the world's top kickboxers such as Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Semmy Schilt, Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghiţă, Albert Kraus, Giorgio Petrosyan, Yoshihiro Sato, and Pat Barry.
Business
GLORY Sports International has its offices in UK, Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and US. The company includes unprecedented mix of accomplished entrepreneurs and senior level executives from the diverse worlds of finance, sports marketing, television, technology and martial arts fighting.[4]
In November 2012, GLORY entered into a partnership with the ONE Championship mixed martial arts promotions to share fighters.[5]
In February 2013, GLORY announced former WWE Executive VP Andrew Whitaker to the position of the global CEO of Glory Sports International.[6]
In June 2013, after having an inaugural first event in USA at NY (Glory 9: New York) on June 22, 2013, SPIKE TV signed a multi-year agreement to broadcast GLORY kickboxing events.
In August 2014, GLORY announced Jon Franklin has been appointed as new CEO of Glory Sports International, after broadcast deal extended with Spike TV in May 2014 to cover 2015.[7]
In February 2016, GLORY announced a new multi-year deal with ESPN.[8]
Events
Champions
Current champions
| Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | +95 kg (209.4 lb) |  Rico Verhoeven | June 21, 2014 | 4 |
| Light Heavyweight | 95 kg (209.4 lb) |  Artem Vakhitov | March 12, 2016 | 0 |
| Middleweight | 85 kg (187.4 lb) |  Simon Marcus | February 26, 2016 | 0 |
| Welterweight | 77 kg (169.8 lb) | Nieky Holzken | August 7, 2015 | 2 |
| Lightweight | 70 kg (154.3 lb) | Robin van Roosmalen | November 7, 2014 | 2 |
| Featherweight | 65 kg (143.3 lb) |  Serhiy Adamchuk | November 6, 2015 | 1 |
Glory Heavyweight Championship
+95 kg (+209.4 lb)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semmy Schilt def. Errol Zimmerman |
Glory 1: Stockholm Stockholm, Sweden |
May 26, 2012 | 395 days |
|
| Schilt vacated the title after retiring due to a heart condition on June 26, 2013.[10] | |||||
| 2 | Rico Verhoeven def. Daniel Ghiță |
Glory 17: Los Angeles Inglewood, California, USA |
June 21, 2014 | 683 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Errol Zimmerman at Glory 19: Virginia on Feb 6, 2015 2. def. Benjamin Adegbuyi at Glory 22: Lille on June 5, 2015 3. def. Benjamin Adegbuyi at Glory 26: Amsterdam on December 4, 2015 4. def. Mladen Brestovac at Glory 28: Paris on March 12, 2016 |
Glory Light Heavyweight Championship
-95 kg (-209.4 lb)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gökhan Sakidef. Tyrone Spong |
Glory 15: Istanbul Istanbul, Turkey |
April 12, 2014 | 471 days |
|
| Saki was stripped of the title due to inactivity on July 27, 2015.[11] | |||||
| 2 |  Saulo Cavalaridef. Zack Mwekassa |
Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 San Jose, California, USA |
September 19, 2015 | 176 days |
|
| 3 | Artem Vakhitov |
Glory 28: Paris Paris, France |
March 12, 2016 | 53 days (incumbent) |
|
Glory Middleweight Championship
-85 kg (-187.4 lb)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artem Levin def. Joe Schilling |
Glory 17: Los Angeles Inglewood, California, USA |
June 21, 2014 | 616 days | 1. draw with Simon Marcus at Glory 21: San Diego on May 8, 2015 |
| 2 | Simon Marcus |
Glory 27: Chicago Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA |
February 26, 2016 | 68 days (incumbent) |
Glory Welterweight Championship
-77 kg (-169.8 lb)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .svg.png){kind=small} Marc de Bontedef. Karapet Karapetyan |
Glory 16: Denver Broomfield, Colorado, USA |
May 3, 2014 | 50 days |
|
| 2 | Joseph Valtellini |
Glory 17: Los Angeles Inglewood, California, USA |
June 21, 2014 | 348 days |
|
| Valtellini vacated the title suffering from Post-Concussion Syndrome on June 4, 2015.[12] | |||||
| 3 | Nieky Holzken def. Raymond Daniels |
Glory 23: Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |
August 7, 2015 | 271 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Murthel Groenhart at Glory 26: Amsterdam on December 4, 2015 2. def. Yoann Kongolo at Glory 29: Copenhagen on April 16, 2016 |
Glory Lightweight Championship
-70 kg (-154.3 lb)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Davit Kiriadef. Andy Ristie |
Glory 14: Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia |
March 8, 2014 | 245 days |
|
| 2 | Robin van Roosmalen |
Glory 18: Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA |
November 7, 2014 | 544 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Andy Ristie at Glory 20: Dubai on Apr 3, 2015 2. def. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong at Glory 25: Milan on November 6, 2015 |
Glory Featherweight Championship
-65 kg (-143.3 lb)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (Total) | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriel Varga def. Mosab Amrani |
Glory 20: Dubai Dubai, UAE |
April 3, 2015 | 218 days |
|
| 2 | Serhiy Adamchuk |
Glory 25: Milan Milan, Italy |
November 6, 2015 | 180 days (incumbent) |
1. def. Mosab Amrani at Glory 28: Paris on March 12, 2016 |
Tournament champions
Contender Tournament winners
Qualification Tournament winners
| Tournament | Date | Weight class | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Glory Heavyweight Qualification Tournament |
May 8, 2015 | Heavyweight (+95 kg/209.4 lb) |
Xavier Vigney | Chi Lewis Parry |
| 2015 Glory Middleweight Qualification Tournament |
August 7, 2015 | Middleweight (-85 kg/187.4 lb) |
Dustin Jacoby | Casey Greene |
| 2016 Glory Welterweight Qualification Tournament |
May 13, 2016 | Welterweight (-77 kg/169.8 lb) |
TBD | TBD |
Road to Glory Tournament winners
| Tournament | Date | Weight class | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 Road to Glory USA 95 kg Tournament |
February 2, 2013 | Light Heavyweight (-95 kg/209.4 lb) |
Dustin Jacoby | Brian Collette |
| 2013 Road to Glory USA 85 kg Tournament |
February 9, 2013 | Middleweight (-85 kg/187.4 lb) |
Mike Lemaire | Eddie Walker |
| 2013 Road to Glory Japan 65 kg Tournament |
March 10, 2013 | Featherweight (-65 kg/143.3 lb) |
Masaaki Noiri | Yuki |
| 2013 Road to Glory USA 77 kg Tournament |
March 22, 2013 | Welterweight (-77 kg/169.8 lb) |
Francois Ambang | Brett Hlavacek |
| 2013 Road to Glory Japan 85 kg Tournament |
May 3, 2013 | Middleweight (-85 kg/187.4 lb) |
Kengo Shimizu | Magnum Sakai |
| 2013 Road to Glory USA 70 kg Tournament |
May 11, 2013 | Lightweight (-70 kg/154.3 lb) |
Michael Mananquil | Troy Sheridan |
| 2013 Road to Glory USA Heavyweight Tournament |
June 14, 2013 | Heavyweight (+95 kg/209.4 lb) |
Xavier Vigney | Maurice Green |
Notable fighters
Heavyweight
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Light Heavyweight
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Middleweight
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Welterweight
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Lightweight
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Featherweight
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See also
References
- ↑ Dave Walsh. "Glory World Series Puts $1 Million USD on the Line in New Tournaments". LiverKick.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ↑ John Joe O'Regan (2012-10-25). "GLORY takes over DREAM for NYE show - Fighters Only". Fightersonlymag.com. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
- ↑ "News - ‘ItÂ’s ShowtimeÂ’ promoter Simon Rutz retires from kickboxing business". Gloryworldseries.com. 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
- ↑ "About Us". Gloryworldseries.com. 2012-05-26. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
- ↑ Dave Walsh. "promotions to share fighters". LiverKick.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ↑ "News - Andrew Whitaker Named New Glory Ceo". Gloryworldseries.com. 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
- ↑ "Glory Appoints New CEO, Extends Spike TV Broadcast Deal". Sherdog.com. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
- ↑ "Glory announces ESPN partnership and Glory 29 Copenhagen". © 2016 Vox Media, Inc. 2016-02-26. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- ↑ Matthew Roth. "Glory 10 and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs Bryan Vera results: Soooo...about last night". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ↑ Dave Walsh. "Sem Schilt Retires". LiverKick.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ↑ "GLORY Statement on Gokokhan Saki". gloryworldseries.com. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ↑ Dave Walsh. "GLORY Welterweight Champion Joseph Valtellini Vacates Championship". LiverKick.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
External links
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