Glory expands to reach Middle East with April event
Glory expands to reach Middle East with April event
GLORY AND EMD PROMOTIONS PRESENT GLORY 20: DUBAI
New York, NY – GLORY, the world’s premier kickboxing league, today announced its first international event for 2015, taking the promotion’s non-stop action to the Middle East. In partnership with EMD Promotions, GLORY 20: DUBAI takes place on Friday, April 3 from the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“We pride ourselves on being a global brand,” said Jon Franklin, CEO of GLORY. “This event is a major step in expanding our footprint in the Middle East, a market that continues to grow exponentially in regard to development and consumption of combat sports.”
GLORY 20:DUBAI is headlined by Canadian dynamo Gabriel Varga (25-2-0, 8 KOs), who combines kickboxing styles of the East and West, and master technician Mosab “Jaguar” Amrani (51-8-4, 15 KOs) of Morocco squaring off for the vacant GLORY Featherweight World Championship, the final unclaimed title across GLORY’s weight classes.
Varga, currently ranked #3, most recently defeated Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai and Shane Oblonsky on his way to victory at GLORY’s one-night, four-man Featherweight Contender Tournament in June of 2014. Amrani, currently ranked #1, has won 3 of his last 4 bouts in GLORY with the latest coming in December of 2013, a unanimous decision over Yuta Kubo.
In the co-headline bout, heavy-handed American Pat “HD” Barry (16-6-1, 10 KOs) returns to GLORY to take on Tunisian veteran Mourad “The Silent Power” Bouzidi (76-22-2, 34 KOs), who moves back up to the heavyweight division after a stint at light heavyweight.
In the first of two semifinal match-ups that comprise GLORY’s one-night, four-man Middleweight Contender Tournament, rejuvenated Dutch kickboxing specialist Jason “Tyson” Wilnis (23-4-1, 6 KOs) meets powerful Brazilian prospect Alex “Po Atan” Pereira (14-2-0, 9 KO). The second semifinal match-up pits American knockout artist Wayne Barrett (5-2-0, 4 KOs) against Canadian muay thai world champion Simon “Bad Bwoy” Marcus (39-1-1, 24 KOs), looking to rebound from the first loss of his career.
The winners of each semifinal bout will then face off, fighting for the second and final time that evening, to earn the right to compete against the reigning GLORY Middleweight World Champion at a later date.
Eisa Aldah, Founder of EMD Promotions, said “EMD Promotions is proud to be able to help in bringing GLORY’s exciting brand of kickboxing and world class talent to Dubai. We hope this is the first of many trips to the Middle East for the promotion.”
In addition to facilitating GLORY’s partnership with EMD Promotions, Aldah, known as the “Arabian Warrior” and hailing from the United Arab Emirates, will also compete in a six round boxing match against Kevin Hanks of the United Kingdom during the GLORY SuperFight Series portion of the Dubai card.
Tickets for GLORY 20: DUBAI will be available for purchase beginning on February 1.
For more information, visit gloryworldseries.com.
