Glory 95 - Croatia [21-09] Results

[K1power]

As expected the most eventful bit of the weigh-ins was the Levi vs. Bahram staredown.

Also I don't remember Brestovac being this well-spoken in English. I feel like Glory could have done more with him.

[Shadess]

Should be a fun event.

Brestovac surprised me with his level of English too.

[K1power]

[K1power]

Prelims kick off in ~3 hours.

[K1power]

Actually it's 30 more minutes. Glory's countdown timer on YouTube wasn't accurate.

[K1power]

We're live.

[Shadess]

This is a bit of a goldmine of an event so far.

Fighers Glory needs to give more fights to:
Miloš Cvjetićanin
Andrej Kedveš

Fighers Glory should to give more fights to:
Vito Košar
Antonio Krajinović

[K1power]

Results
Levi Rigters defeats Bahram Rajabzadeh by TKO R3 (cut)
Tariq Osaro defeats Nico "Big Sexy" Horta by Unanimous Decision
Mladen Brestovac defeats Karim Dian by KO R1 (kick)
Nordine Mahieddine defeats Nikola Filipovic by Split Decision
Vedat Hoduk defeats Arian Sadikovic by Extra Round Split Decision
Andrej Kedveš defeats Guerric Billet by TKO R3 (three knockdowns)
Miloš Cvjetićanin defeats Jimmy Livinus by TKO R1 (three knockdowns)
Cédric Do defeats Filip Matic by TKO R2 (towel thrown)
Ivan Bertić defeats Dănuț Hurduc by Unanimous Decision
Vito Košar defeats Aleksandar Janković by TKO R1 (three knockdowns)
Antonio Krajinović defeats Teo Mikelić by TKO R1 (towel thrown)

[K1power]

Quick thoughts:

The Good
+ Despite there being a few drawbacks (some issues with pacing/matchmaking/scoring) and the card being plagued by last-minute injuries, this ended up being a strong event overall and a successful return to Croatia for Glory.
+ A bunch of talent emerged from this card that I want to see more of.
+ The way it ended was unfortunate, but Levi vs. Bahram was a strong main event and very exciting while it lasted.
+ Osaro vs. Horta was a more solid and competitive fight than I expected. Despite missing speed and power, so far Big Sexy has been giving everyone a tough fight.
+ It really was a non-fight, but it was cool to see Brestovac retiring on the big stage in front of his hometown crowd.
+ Crocop getting honored was awesome to see. I hope he's in good health.
+ Mahieddine vs. Filipovic was a fun fight with Filipovic starting strong, but Mahieddine taking over as the fight progressed.
+ The surprise of the night was Hoduk/Sadikovic. I expected Sadikovic to steamroll Hoduk, but things sure went differently and we got a competitive and entertaining fight. I'm not quite sure I agree with the extra round, but the fight was solid and the late replacement Hoduk scored a great upset. Also surprising to see an extra round in Glory as draws rarely happen there.
+ Kedveš finishing Glory veteran Billet with calfkicks. Unfortunately Billet is becoming somewhat of a gatekeeper. Kedveš looked solid.
+ Man, I did not expect Cvjetićanin to get such a dominant finish over Livinus. Props to Livinus for even getting up after that first knockdown.
+ Do fought a late replacement and tried to make quick work of him, but Matic showed a lot of heart and refused to stay down. Even landed some nice counters.
+ Hurduc has something like 50 more pro fights than Bertić, but it was Bertić who looked like the veteran here because he has 150+ amateur fights.
+ Another great pro debut with Košar easily picking his opponent apart in less than a round as well. To be fair Janković was a late replacement.
+ Great pro debut by Krajinović who blasted Mikelić in less than a minute. Good move by Mikelić's corner to throw in the towel.

The Bad
- Glory should have had the foresight to place Osaro/Horta and Brestovac/Dian a bit lower on the card to improve the overall pacing and have a stronger build-up to the main event.
- While I didn't really agree with the crowd booing in the third round and appreciated the fight, Cookie sure ran out of gas quickly.
- More terrible judging by those that scored the fight for Filipovic.
- Not sure I agree with the draw after three rounds between Hoduk and Sadikovic. IMO Hoduk had done enough to take it. The judge who gave the extra round to Sadikovic should never judge a fight again.
- While it was cool to see some new talent look impressive during the prelims, it's fair to say that some of those fights were mismatches.

Additional comments
* Jabs between Melvin and Remy were sharp tonight.
* Videoland keeps doing these pre-fight locker room interviews with fighters and I hate it.
* Unorthodox commentary pairings both on the English and Dutch side: Valtellini paired with Plazibat on the English side while Lely paired with Jay Overmeer on the Dutch side. I thought both teams did pretty well.
* Really hope Glory isn't poaching Cvjetićanin from the K-1 finals for their own Collision 7 event after that fantastic performance. They probably will.
* I remember Croatians having pretty decent English from having been there in 2013, but tonight showed me how much it has improved beyond that level over the past decade. I hope Glory does more there in the future.
* Opening fights were so short they were instantly replayed in their entirety lol.

[K1power]

BTW that last headbutt by Bahram was a fully intentional nasty move and he should have gotten at least a point deduction for it, not just a slap on the wrist. So in that sense it's poetic justice that he gets cut himself by a legit move and it's the end of the fight.

[Shadess]

Sept 21, 2024 22:09:36 GMT 1 K1power said:

The Good
+ The surprise of the night was Hoduk/Sadikovic. I expected Sadikovic to steamroll Hoduk, but things sure went differently and we got a competitive and entertaining fight. I'm not quite sure I agree with the extra round, but the fight was solid and the late replacement Hoduk scored a great upset. Also surprising to see an extra round in Glory as draws rarely happen there.
+ Kedveš finishing Glory veteran Billet with calfkicks. Unfortunately Billet is becoming somewhat of a gatekeeper. Kedveš looked solid.

2 fights in a row that went just about the opposite I expected them to. Hoduk at least got an early knockdown to explain it a bit, but still.

Sept 21, 2024 22:09:36 GMT 1 K1power said:

The Bad
- Glory should have had the foresight to place Osaro/Horta and Brestovac/Dian a bit lower on the card to improve the overall pacing and have a stronger build-up to the main event.

Yup. Glory has handled Horta pretty well until now. With this fight being a late sub again I get it wasn't necessarily optimal, but yea the fight should have been moved lower on the card.

I wasn't expecting too much from Brestovac, seemed like maybe he hadn't exactly trained full time lately.
...but when I saw him tower over his opponent in the ring it was fairly obvious how it was going to go and specially back to back with the Horta fight that should have been a pretty expected dip for the event.

Sept 21, 2024 22:09:36 GMT 1 K1power said:

* Really hope Glory isn't poaching Cvjetićanin from the K-1 finals for their own Collision 7 event after that fantastic performance. They probably will.

I so hope they do Seems like a promotable guy for Glory, offer him fights like he's Bahram.

[K1power]

Shadess said:

I so hope they do Seems like a promotable guy for Glory, offer him fights like he's Bahram.

Sure, but he adds legitimacy to K-1's GP line-up whereas Glory already has a strong LHW division and surely can wait at least a few months to go all-in on Miloš.

[vampiro]

Cvjetićanin has been a lot of fun to watch since he started in Senshi. Livinus was in a ridiculous fight with Achterburg last year where both were trading knockdowns in the last round. It'll be interesting to see if Cvjetićanin drops out. I think he is good enough to win it. He can be hurt though.