Glory Rivals Paving The Way For Kickboxing As A Whole
This morning, Glory Kickboxing announced a new series: Glory Rivals. The Rivals series is meant to be a cross-promotion set of events with the best kickboxers in the world. Also announced was the first two partnerships with Glory in their Rivals series: Enfusion and RISE. The promotion is putting their money where their mouth is and putting their best fighters against the other promotion’s best fighters, opening the door for some really awesome fights (Petch vs. Masaaki Noiri, anyone?). But this move has even bigger implications for the sport of kickboxing worldwide as cross-promotion events move Glory, Enfusion, and RISE from a UFC-esque promotion to a boxing model, something the sport could use.
This is something that kickboxing needs very badly. Too fragmented the sport has become with fighters being tied up in exclusive contracts. Rico Verhoeven can’t fight outside of Glory, Masaaki Noiri can’t fight outside of K-1. Very few are contracts like Tenshin Nasukawa, who holds all the leverage of his career and has bounced between RIZIN and RISE. This new series sees the power shifting from being absolute in the promoter’s hands and into the hands of the fighter, albeit not completely.
In MMA and, before today, kickboxing, fighters have been constrained by their promoters. Francis N’Gannou cannot go fight Phil De Fries in KSW just as ONE Championship won’t lend out Bibiano Fernandes. Fighters are held to their own promotions not to taint the quality of their fighters. But in boxing, there are no such arraignments and promoters aren’t allowed to hold fighters hostage. PBC and GoldenBoy can have their champions fight in a “superfight” (there are far too many of these in boxing) and they let the belts be decided by the sanctioning bodies. While there is some f**kery involved in boxing due to the sheer size of it, in MMA and kickboxing, this wouldn’t be the case.
Glory Rivals and the growth of kickboxing
Kickboxing is a sport that needs a shot in the arm. You always hear people complaining about the wrestling in MMA, which is arguably the most important aspect of the sport. It seems like standup fights, kickboxing and Muay Thai, would be more popular yet the UFC has done a perfect job at marketing itself despite fans not liking half of what fights are made of. It’s the lack of good marketing that makes kickboxing so realatively unknown.
The partnership between Glory, RISE and Enfusion will consolidate those great fighters giving them the opportunity for better fights, more fans in different countries, and more money as a result. Giving Rico Verhoeven, someone who has quite frankly cleaned out his division to the biggest degree, needs broader horizons.
This also helps the sport of kickboxing retain fighters. There’s been a great exodus of fighters, like Alex Pereira and Cedric Doumbe, leaving for mixed martial arts. With the allowing of cross promotion fights, kickboxing will have the roster to keep these fighters from seeking greener pastures and leaving the sport all together.
Glory Rivals brings a much needed injection in the arm for the sport of kickboxing. While very popular, it hasn’t found it’s foothold in American audiences who are the ones to spend money on these things. It’s why the UFC does so well, it’s why boxing promoters do so well, and why US based sports like basketball and NFL do so well. Americans buy things. Putting on exciting fights without the hold of promotional red tape to hold fighters back.
It comes at an opportunistic time as well. Kickboxing just received it’s recognition by the International Olympic Committee and is looking to make a push to be included in the Olympic Games in the future. Having more eyes on the sport of kickboxing worldwide will not only grow the sport, but also provide a cash injection to snowball that effect as well. More money, more recognition.
This is all putting the cart before the horse, however. As of now, Glory Rivals is a great way for kickboxing to have some really fantastic fights. While boxing excels at cross promoting fighters and fights, MMA has tried and hasn’t had the same interest. Bellator and RIZIN have done cross promotion events in the past and, while the interest is higher, it’s proven to not be a sure-fired success. Glory and the sport of kickboxing have plenty to do to grow the sport to bigger stages. Glory Rivals is the first step towards that.
