Glory Light Heavyweight Grand Prix [08-06] Results

[kbfan]

Damn, i didn't watch from the start, only from the 3rd round of Khbabez vs Toure but he looked ok there. When did he get that leg damage?

[vampiro]

His leg got fucked up pretty noticeably to be honest. I expected Abena to Liu Ce him lol.

[kbfan]

Hmmmm i'm not 100% convinced the cut came from the headbutt, the previous hit was a leg hit to the exact same area, the cut could have already been provoked at that point and only made worse by the headbutt. But it's extremely hard to say ...

[Shadess]

Very unfortunate end to that fight.

[vampiro]

Thanks for not wasting time Iancu!

[K1power]

Results

Light Heavyweight Grand Prix
Donegi Abena defeats Bahram Rajabzadeh by KO R1
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Bahram Rajabzadeh defeats Sergej Maslobojev by TKO R2
Donegi Abena defeats Tarik Khbabez by TKO R2
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Bahram Rajabzadeh defeats Ibrahim El Bouni by TKO R1
Sergej Maslobojev defeats Bogdan Stoica by TKO R1
Donegi Abena defeats Stefan Latescu by TKO R3
Tarik Khbabez defeats Pascal Touré by Unanimous Decision

Reserve
Cem Caceres defeats Mohamed Amine by KO R2

Single Fights
Ionut Iancu defeats Murat Aygün by KO R2
Ramy Deghir defeats Brice Kombou by Split Decision
Soufiane Abdelkhalek defeats Ilyass Chakir by Unanimous Decision

[vampiro]

I'm actually disappointed at the lack of surprises in this tournament lol.

[K1power]

Quick thoughts

The Good
+ Despite the event taking a HUGE dent with the Bahram/Maslobojev debacle, Donegi's tournament run was so good it made not just the tournament, but the whole event for me.
+ Abena taking away all doubts about his motivation going into this and murdering everybody including Bahram.
+ The fight may have had a VERY shaky start, but Iancu is the only Romanian fighter to deliver tonight. Completely put Aygün to SLEEP with just a few shots.
+ Bonjasky during Aygün/Iancu "I think Iancu is allowed to hit back". Five seconds later Iancu knocks Aygün down with a single counter lol.
+ Deghir/Kombou was an okay fight that had the unfortunate task of following up the deflation of the Rajabzadeh/Maslobojev ending.
+ I like Glory doing more live staredowns for upcoming events.
+ Verhoeven making a call to action for Nourdin El Otmani was nice to see.
+ Abena lowkicks the already battle damaged Khbabez into oblivion. After seeing how much punishment Khbabez absorbed against Maslobojev, I didn't think he could be finished by lowkicks. I guess the rest after the Touré fight really made the pain sink in. Khbabez coming out southpaw kind of telegraphed what was coming. Abena's performance was great.
+ Rajabzadeh completely steamrolling El Bouni in R1. While I feel bad for El Bouni, Rajabzadeh is a fighter that consistently delivers.
+ Abena committing to the lowkicks and making Latescu look like a beginner.
+ Khbabez/Touré. Despite clinching too much - which was within expectation - Touré was very competitive with Tarik early on. He just couldn't keep the high volume kicks while also dealing with Tarik's constant pressure. Tarik did what he does; go forward, pressure, absorb too much punishment, build up steam. He also punched a lot of air out of Touré going to the body.
+ Abdelkhalek/Chakir was a fun back and forth fight. Crazy that Abdelkhalek got married two days ago and gave a strong performance like this.
+ Strong Glory debut for Caceres who I saw getting written off by a lot of people online. Seemed like a deer caught in the headlights in the postfight interview, but he did come across humble and sincere.

The Bad
- Despite having mostly wins on his record, Aygün really hasn't delivered on the promise of being one of the big upcoming heavyweights when he was still Aerts' protegé.
- One of the worst things that could have happened did; Bahram accidentally headbutts Maslobojev who cuts his lip. Doctor says he may continue, but Sergej declines. Bahram wins by TKO. While Bahram was having the better of the fight, I still feel it could've gone either way. I'm not sure what Sergej was trying to achieve here, but the whole debacle completely murdered the momentum this event had.
- While I liked the quarterfinals and the best fighters moved to the semis, it also would have been cool to see an upset or two. Despite the tournament field being strong, there was still a very notable difference between the top and bottom 4.
- Maslobojev/Stoica; the way it ended was a bummer.
- While I did enjoy the fight overall, I was bothered by the clinch-heavy moments during Khbabez/Touré - even if I expected it.
- Not a fan of how they handled ring entrances for the first quarterfinal. They introduced all 8 tournament fighters and Touré and Khbabez just kinda stayed there.
- Unfortunately, Amine looked completely lost out there. That's 4 losses in a row now and I think this marks the end of his Glory career.

Sidenotes
* In the post-fight interview with Nesim, a stitched up Maslobojev said something along the lines of: "Maybe next time we fight I'll fucking stab him and we see what happens".
* Manhoef "If someone headbutts you, you give them a fucking headbutt back!" Lol.
* The crowd going from booing Rico, to cheering, to booing again was.. within expectation.
* El Bouni - a Moroccan - getting bood against Rajabzadeh - a non-Moroccan - was kind of unreal. While it shows how popular Bahram is, it was also lame.
* Maslobojev demonstratively taped up his shins lol.
* Interesting tidbit; Caceres is Murat Aygün's younger cousin.
* Videoland's Nesim just asked Rico about his charges in a backstage interview lol. Rico said "Let's keep it positive".

Edit: BTW the banter between Remy, Manhoef and Schaaf was once again great.

[kbfan]

Damn, Bahram got demolished in that final!

[K1power]

Looks like Bahram kept postponing foot surgery, because he kept taking/winning fights.

I just checked his wiki page and he fought ELEVEN TIMES over the last year.
Sure, that includes two tournament runs, but he did it in two weightclasses.

I hope he gets surgery, takes some time off and comes back at 100%.

[K1power]

Some follow-ups from several backstage/post-fight interviews:

- Khbabez needs surgery on his hand. He tore a tendon in sparring a month ago, but still felt confident enough to win the tournament. Said it didn't affect his performance and he simply took too many lowkicks from Touré. He'll be out for a few months, but hopes to be ready to defend his title later this year.
- Abena is likely fighting Khabez for the title next. I've seen December being thrown around.
- According to Robbie Timmers, Maslobojev feels Bahram's headbutt was intentional and felt it was unresponsible to continue the fight.
- Plazibat says he wanted his arm to heal naturally, because putting in screws can bring additional risks. He didn't decide based on medical advice, but looked at other fighters that suffered similar injuries. Says Dustin Jacoby moved to the UFC, because he could no longer take kicks to the arm. Still wants to be the one to dethrone Rico. Says he is "Boring as fuck, but you have to respect him" lol. Says it may look on social media like he's living the McGregor lifestyle, but it doesn't paint the whole picture.
- Tavares had surgery and needed some time off to recover. Has been working a lot with underprivileged kids. Thinks he may make his comeback after the summer. Realizes people feel he needs to prove himself again.
- Abdelkhalek felt an injury on his ankle during the fight, but isn't sure if it's serious. Hopes to fight again very soon, but is going on his honeymoon first.
- Caceres was confident going into this, because his preparation was more serious than for previous fights. Interesting to note is that he mentioned in a pre-fight interview being aware that he was considered fodder to give Amine a win.

[K1power]

Really cool to see Abena get some love.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7-G-EXoNGv

[Shadess]

Sad the night ended the way it did for Maslo. Great night for Abena tho.

Jun 8, 2024 22:22:34 GMT 1 K1power said:

- Despite having mostly wins on his record, Aygün really hasn't delivered on the promise of being one of the big upcoming heavyweights when he was still Aerts' protegé.

Never been on the Aygun hype train. Figured he'd lose here due to his prolonged break for testing positive and then possibly not training so seriously for a while.

[K1power]

Wouldn't exactly say hype train, but he did look like an impressive up- and comer about a decade ago. Unfortunately, over the years he developed into this twitchy and stiff looking brawler who leaves himself wide open. It's a recipe for disaster against a fighter like Iancu.

As for the tournament, I'm glad Abena won. Bahram winning probably would have been the dream scenario for Glory, but due to how he got past Maslobojev his run would have been tainted as far as I'm concerned.

[vampiro]

It's also pretty clear at this point that Bahram does not need the tournament win, though it would've been the dream for sure. Dude got cheered over a Moroccan lol. His heavyweight run cemented him firmly. Unpopular opinion, perhaps, but I think going down to 209 was unnecessary. He was eventually going to get found out at heavyweight, but he is way too quick for most of those guys. I think he looked way better up a division.