GLORY 78 - BADR vs. WRZOSEK [04-09] Results

[K1power]

Glory 78
Badr Hari vs. Arkadiusz Wrzosek
Alex Pereira (C) vs. Artem Vakhitov - LHW Championship
Tarik Khbabez vs. Antonio Plazibat
Levi Rigters vs. Tomas Mozny
Luis Tavares vs. Felipe Micheletti
Nordine Mahieddine vs. Raul Catinas
Mohamed 'Hamicha' Mezouari vs. Vedat Hoduk

SuperFight Series
Donovan Wisse vs. Yousri Belgaroui - Middleweight Championship
Tyjani Beztati vs. Elvis Gashi - Lightweight Championship
Itay Gershon vs. Guerric Billet
Mohammed Hendouf vs. Manuel Robson Minoto

www.glorykickboxing.com/events/glory-78:c5167e73-af7e-4e7d-b19d-24a507992ca8

[K1power]

Man, that's a very blatant Badr-needs-a-win opponent.

I've only seen a handful of fights from Wrzosek, but his best performance was probably in his decision loss to Adegbuyi where he actually looked decent.

Having said that, I can't imagine (a well-prepared) Badr to have any serious trouble here.
If he does, it's safe to say Badr is finished.

Aside from that, it seems like Glory still doesn't have a broadcasting partner as this will be a PPV-only event again.
I mean, Glory still has well over 2 months, but I wouldn't put my hopes up.

And with this fight as their main event, I wonder what the rest of the card will look like.

[samurai1]

This is BS and this, in my opinion, shows that badr does not have confidence in himself anymore. Wrzosek showed a lot of heart in the benny fight surviving until the end, but I'm not even sure if he belongs in glory. Here are some fights that would have been much better and would have showed us where badr is at: Jahfarr Wilnis, Levi Rigters , Mahieddine, D'Angelo Marshall, just to name a few. Anyway, Wrzosek was pretty young so it's possible that he has improved quite a bit.

[Shadess]

Really putting Badr's star power to the test here...

I guess after the date of the event leaked out already they felt rushed to announce it themselves. Rest of the card gotta have meaningful fights, but some of those should have been announced now as this main event is a pretty meaningless fight beyond just having Badr on the card.

[Kenshin (Banned)]

I don't know this guy at all, but his name is harder to pronounce for me than most of Lovecraft's inventions, so I gotta root for him.

[K1power]

Apr 29, 2021 10:40:15 GMT 1 Shadess said:

Really putting Badr's star power to the test here...

On multiple levels;
- Can this current Badr carry an event regardless of who he's fighting? That's the most interesting one to me.
- To what degree do Badr fans still even care? There has to be a cut-off point somewhere..
- Can Badr's career come back from yet another blow if he somehow manages to lose this one as well? I don't think it can.

When we look at the past two events the one with Badr was implied to have done great numbers, whereas the one with Rico didn't do nearly as well. Of course Glory sold it as a great success, but the fact that they didn't give any numbers for the event with Rico is pretty self-explanatory.

Also Robbie Timmers said in an interview with Dutch media that Glory is looking to do at least two more events this year after Glory 78. That's better than just having one more at the end of the year.

[K1power]

Apr 29, 2021 10:54:48 GMT 1 Kenshin (Banned) said:

I don't know this guy at all, but his name is harder to pronounce for me than most of Lovecraft's inventions, so I gotta root for him.

Not sure why they aren't just going with Arkadiusz. Sounds way cooler.

[kickboxer (Banned)]

Apr 29, 2021 8:07:03 GMT 1 samurai1 said:

 Wrzosek showed a lot of heart in the benny fight surviving until the end, but I'm not even sure if he belongs in glory.  

Did Colin George ever belong? And he knocked Wrzosek out. It's the kind of match that should never be made. Ark wants another heavy beating and watching him not falling from only a punch and being resistance to the kicks... 

[h]

War Badr's opponent

[K1power]

Let's add a bit of context to put things in perspective, shall we:

- Wrzosek lost to George when he was 24.
- Adegbuyi lost to Rozenstruik when he was 26.
- Hoost lost to Sapp. By KO. Twice.
- K-1 during the height of their popularity had Akebono on their roster.

My points being;
- Fighters shouldn't be defined by early career losses. You can lose to someone who isn't elite by any stretch of the imagination and still evolve to become an elite competitor. I'm not saying Wrzosek is some beast competitor now, but Wrzosek at 28 isn't the same fighter he was at 24.
- Even the most elite fighters can lose to fighters they 'shouldn't' lose to.
- Glory isn't this Crème de la crème promotion that only has the very best fighters on their roster. Never has been, never will be. Even FEG K-1 - which actually was the Crème de la crème promotion in kickboxing - had far more extreme choices under contract than any fighter on Glory's roster today.

All this talk about who does/doesn't belong in Glory is just weird to me.

I absolutely agree that Badr vs. Wrzosek isn't a strong headline event, but it's far from Glory's first weak headliner.
Glory 43 had Inocente vs. Adegbuy, Glory 30 had Marcus vs. Jacoby and so on. Sometimes the fights still delivered, but keep in mind that especially a lot of the US cards where shitty from start to finish.

Sometimes Glory has great fights. Sometimes Glory has great events overall, but it's far from the norm for them. Sometimes they're not to blame if fights don't deliver, sometimes they are. Glory's a mixed bag and their big comeback certainly hasn't done anything to change my mind about them. So I'm not sure why some people put Glory on this imaginary pedestal. Wishful thinking I guess.

[kickboxer (Banned)]

- He did not lose however, but by KO, whilst 24-25 is an advanced age for a Polish kickboxer (plus he was not helped as experience by the circuits where he fought)
- Adegbuyi began very late his career, and at that moment he had less than 1 year of training (it was still an upset, the puncher chance, and Benny won the rematch)

Indeed, Wrzozek is not a beast. But neither is a Glory kickboxer. He was a punching bag for Adegbuyi. Imo Smolik might have been better, and I hadn't hated Abdallah. He had potential but was not fighting like a kickboxer. Though none deserved to be in Glory OVER 'OTHERS'. Smolik's promoters tricked a lot of people, choosing him some names close to retirement (he is not a decent kickboxer)... 

Adegbuyi vs Inocente was way over this (simply because Adegbuyi with his resume should have already been the champ without Rico, and eventually beat Badr, not to mention the best argument is that the bout was competitive), and Marcus may have fought Jacoby but Marcus has pedigree in Glory. And Jacoby is a better kickboxer so far than Wrzosek. Anyway, there were a lot of worse main events. Groenhart vs Troy is a recent one. Not to mention the featherweight has started being even poorer. Or the welterweight has been rarely stacked.

The event can still be good, or even very good, but the main event is a disaster. Badr can't fight such an opponent, he did well in his last 2 fights. If he can't beat Marshall or Mahiedinne, he should give up. Not talking about the class over them, with probably Wilnis, Khbabez possibly and others.

Anyway, 1 fight does not even count. Rico lost to Gerasimchuk. In a bad day when you are younger it can happen. But it's a problem when you don't fight anyone, also not coming from a big school... There are not the best ingredients!

I just wish the best for Glory. And the fans deserve better, if Glory want to make money.

[kickboxer (Banned)]

I think you're confusing Badr, the difference between these two heavyweights is huge. And if an accident happens, although I don't think considering the big margin. That's the problem, it's not a fight of potential. It has no potential. I hope I am wrong. Many fans say this, I am not the only voice and I do not manipulate anyone.

If I would be a Dutchman, and if Ghita fights Wrzosek, I would not buy the PPV without the other (solid I hope) bouts. I just hope this show is not mediocre, because you forget it's not free.

Plus Glory ask more money lately.


Maybe Glory only want the money. The draw. And they shit on us this way. There are more Romanian and Moroccan kickboxing fans than Polish.

Not interesting in Badr, but they should put already Rico versus one of the two mandatory challengers. 

[Shadess]

Do Badr vs. Saki instead and whichever doesn't break a limb gets to go fight Rico after.

[h]

double doctor stoppage for double broken limbs. nobody fights rico.

[K1power]

Frankly, I don't think any of Glory's PPV events have been worth their money.

Like Shadess said Glory's putting Badr's starpower to the test and it could work, but I wouldn't bet money on it.

I'm really curious about the rest of the card, though.