GLORY 44 Chicago Superfight Series Finalized
DENVER – GLORY, the world’s premier kickboxing league, today announced seven new bouts, finalizing the GLORY 44 Chicago and GLORY 44 SuperFight Series fight cards hosted by Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Friday, Aug. 25.
Two welterweight bouts have already been announced for GLORY 44 Chicago, including the grudge match between 24-year-old world champion Cédric “The Best” Doumbé (67-4-1, 39 KO, fighting out of France) and rival Murthel “The Predator” Groenhart (66-22-3, 38 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) and the night’s co-headline battle between Illinois natives Richard “Maximus” Abraham (11-5, 4 KO, fighting out of the United States), ranked No. 8, and formidable Daniel “La Maquina” Morales (representing Mexico).
Now, four more welterweight contenders join the fray in a one-night tournament at GLORY 44 Chicago.
In the first of two tournament semifinal bouts, No. 4-ranked Harut Grigorian (44-11, 32 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) and No. 5-ranked veteran Karim “Le Felin” Benmansour (48-7-2, 22 KO, fighting out of France) both look to get back on the winning track, while 26-year-old French-born prodigy Antoine Pinto (132-36-1, 77 KO, fighting out of Thailand) puts his No. 7 ranking on the line against tough-as-nails American Casey “Go” Greene (5-7, 2 KO, fighting out of the United States) in the other semifinal match-up.
The complete five-fight card for GLORY 44 Chicago can be found below:
GLORY 44 Chicago
Welterweight Title Headline Bout: Cédric Doumbé vs. Murthel Groenhart
Welterweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Welterweight Co-Headline Bout: Richard Abraham vs. Daniel Morales
Welterweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: Casey Greene vs. Antoine Pinto
Welterweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Karim Benmansour vs. Harut Grigorian
GLORY 44 Chicago will be carried live on ESPN3 at 11 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT on Friday, Aug. 25.
Crowd favorite Cătălin “The Carpathian Death” Moroșanu (44-10, 26 KO, fighting out of Romania) revisits the scene of February’s bone-rattling knockout, welcoming heavyweight standout Michal Turynski (21-9, 6 KO, fighting out of Poland) to the ring for his promotional debut in the GLORY 44 SuperFight Series co-headline bout.
GLORY 44 SuperFight Series also marks the return of UFC and Bellator veteran turned GLORY championship challenger Dustin “The Hanyak” Jacoby (9-8, 7 KO, fighting out of the United States), facing California-based mixed martial artist and Muay Thai practitioner Sean Choice (6-2, fighting out of the United States) at middleweight. Currently ranked No. 6 in the division, Jacoby will appear for the first time since breaking his arm against reigning middleweight champion Simon Marcus in October.
Atlanta’s Warren “Destroyer” Thompson (14-8-1, 3 KO, fighting out of the United States) squares off against Ontario’s Robert “The White Dragon” Thomas (8-5, 5 KO, fighting out of Canada). This fight features top-10 talent, with Thompson and Thomas ranked No. 7 and No. 8, respectively at middleweight.
Lightweight Rafal Dudek (20-12, 9 KO, fighting out of Poland) turns around quickly after throwing down at GLORY 43 New York earlier this month, accepting the challenge of WAKO Team USA athlete Nate “The Natural” Richardson (10-2, 5 KO, fighting out of the United States).
Victor “Leo” Pinto (72-27, 22 KO, fighting out of Thailand), the younger brother of Antoine Pinto, kicks off GLORY 44 SuperFight Series with fellow featherweight Adrian Maxim (27-8, 17 KO, fighting out of Romania).
Tiffany “Time Bomb” van Soest (17-2-1, 5 KO, fighting out of the United States) is set to make the first defense of her super bantamweight world title, taking on Muay Thai fighter Funda “Findik” Alkayiş (29-2, 12 KO, fighting out of Turkey) in the headline bout of GLORY 44 SuperFight Series.
The complete six-fight card for GLORY 44 SuperFight Series can be found below:
GLORY 44 SuperFight Series
Super Bantamweight Title Headline Bout: Tiffany van Soest vs. Funda Alkayiş
Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout: Cătălin Moroșanu vs. Michal Turynski
Middleweight Bout: Dustin Jacoby vs. Sean Choice
Middleweight Bout: Warren Thompson vs. Robert Thomas
Lightweight Bout: Rafal Dudek vs. Nate Richardson
Featherweight Bout: Victor Pinto vs. Adrian Maxim
GLORY 44 SuperFight Series streams live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Friday, Aug. 25.
Tickets for GLORY 44 Chicago and GLORY 44 SuperFight Series are on sale now, available for online purchase at searscentre.com and at the Sears Centre Arena box office.
Follow Ryan Sprague and MyMMANews.com for coverage of GLORY 44 Chicago.
