Mirko Cro Cop vs Sergei Kharitonov to Main Event Glory 17

Mirko Cro Cop vs Sergei Kharitonov to Main Event Glory 17
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Two former Pride superstars have verbally agreed to face each other in a kickboxing match at Glory 17.

Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic will take on fellow Eastern European Sergei Kharitonov in the main event at GLORY 17: 'Los Angeles'.

Glory 17 takes place June 21st at The Forum, Inglewood, California. Previous Glory events have been made available to UK viewers through BT Sports, however broadcast information for this event has yet to be confirmed.

Fighting for the second under the Glory banner, Mirko Cro Cop enters the bout looking to bounce back from a decision losses to Remy Bonjasky at Glory 14 in his home nation of Croatia.

A legend in combat sports, Mirko Cro Cop, is the only fighter in combat sports history to win and K-1 and Pride FC Grand Prix; he also hold the Pride record for most finishes with 16.

Having fought MMA rules under the Pride, Dream, and the UFC banner, Cro Cop returned to kickboxing in 2012, where he originally made his name, to defeat Ray Sefo in his return bout, before putting together a series of victories on route to winning K1 World Grand Prix 2012. Cro Cop entered the bout with a 22-8 kickboxing record; the bout with Kharitonov will mark the first time Cro Cop has fought in the US in a kickboxing fight.

Ranked at 8 in the Glory Heavyweight rankings, Kharitonov makes a quick return to the ring having recently lost by unanimous decision to Anderson "Braddock" Silva in the heavyweight "contender" tournament at  last weeks GLORY 16: "Denver."

A 25 fight professional mixed martial arts fighter, Kharitonov who holds notable MMA wins over Fabricio Wedum, Alistair Overeem, and Andrei Arlovski, made the switch to kicking boxing when he joined Glory in 2012. Since joining the promotion the Russian has put together a 2-2 record with wins over Daniel Sam and Jerome Le Banner, and losses coming to number 2 ranked heavyweight Ricco Verhoeven and the aforementioned Anderson Silva.

Also on the card is a 4 man featherweight tournament featuring former WEC champion Miguel Torres, making his promotional debut.

Stay tuned to KingdomMMA.co.uk for all the latest on Glory 17

Mirko Cro Cop vs Remy Bonjasky Official for Glory 14

Mirko Cro Cop vs Remy Bonjasky Official for Glory 14
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Glory officials today confirmed that Mirko Cro Cop will take on Remy Bojasky at Glory 14, March 8th in Zegreb, Croatia. The bout will serve as the main event of the evening, and is a rematch of a 2002 bout which Cro Cop won by TKO in the 2nd round.


Hometown hero Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic (22-7, 12 KOs) fights for the first time under the Glory banner having most recently won the K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix in March.

Having fought MMA for Pride and The UFC, Cro Cop returned to kickboxing in March 2012, a sport where he began his professional fighting career with K-1. Since returning to kickboxing Cro Cop has since rattled off 6 straight victories.

A professional kickboxer since 1995, Kickboxing Hall of Famer, Remy Bonjasky (98-12-0, 36 KOs) has beaten a who's who of fighters including Ernesto Hoost, Melvin Manhoef, Gokhan Saki, Alistair Overeem, and Anderson Silva.

A three time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, Bonjasky originally retired from Kickboxing in 2009, only to returned to the sport in 2012. Nicknamed the flying gentleman which pays homage to Bonjasky's array of flying kicks and knee attacks, Bonjasky is 2-3 in since returning to kickboxing, losing his most recent fight by controversial unanimous decision to Anderson Silva at Glory 13. 

No other fights have been official announced for Glory 14, however a 4-Man Middleweight Contenders Tournament is expected, with Jason Wilmis, Sahak Parparyan, and Dustin Jacoby expected to feature.

Paul Daley on the Verge of Major Kickboxing Deal

Paul Daley on the Verge of Major Kickboxing Deal
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Paul 'Semtex' Daley took to Facebook earlier today to announce he is on the verge of signing with a major European kickboxing promotion:

Close to signing a 3 fight deal with a Major, European KICKBOXING PROMOTION, starting 2014.

Our focus is on BAMMA 14 right now, but 2014 will see Team Semtex/Spirit Dojo, competing in KICKBOXING AND MMA rules fights. 

One of the finest knockout artist in all of MMA, Nottingham's Daley has fought for MMA promotions all over the world including, The UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Cage Warriors, and Elite XC earning an impressive 33-13-2 record with 24 of his victories coming by TKO including notable victories over highly decorated kickboxers Martin Kampmann and Duane Ludwig.

Currently signed to a 3 fight UK exclusive deal with Bamma, Paul Daley with take on Romario Manoel Da Silva in the main event at Bamma 14 December 14 at the LG Arena in Birmingham.  

Earlier in the year Daley was rumoured to have been offer a fight on Glory 5 which took place in London, however nothing came to fruition. Daley is now expected to fight for both Bamma and the as yet unnamed promotion in 2014, however it is unknown if Daley, a former King of The Ring European Muay Thai Champion will continue to fight both MMA and kickboxing once his 3 fight deal with Bamma is up, or if he will have a change of career paths and concentrate just on kickboxing.

Glory World Series Signs TV Deal with Spike TV

Glory World Series Signs TV Deal with Spike TV

Spike TV will expand its sports line-up with the addition of GLORY Sports International's (GSI) brand of kickboxing premiering in Fall, 2013.  The action-packed LIVE sports programming, part of an overall GSI content initiative, will air 2-hour events in primetime on select Saturday nights from around the world as part of a multi-year partnership was announced today by Jon Slusser, Senior Vice President, Sports and Multiplatform Programming, Spike TV, and Andrew Whitaker, Chief Executive GLORY Sports International, Pte Ltd.

“We are thrilled to partner with GSI in bringing Spike TV's audience the incredible action and intensity of GLORY’s fight league, which feature the best kickboxers in the world,” said Slusser. “Viewers will quickly see this as the perfect complement to our coverage of Bellator, the world’s leading tournament-based MMA promotion.”

"Spike has established itself as the home of combat sports in a way that is unique. Its audience will expect the most exciting ring action and we promise to deliver it," said Whitaker. "Glory kickboxing is the next big thing and Spike clearly knows something about spotting aces in the sports programming space."

GLORY Sports International is the world's premier stand-up fighting league, staging events across the globe. The fight series includes multi-man tournaments, along with traditional, single bouts.  The most elite kickboxers in the world fight for GLORY including Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki, Semmy Schilt, Nieky Holzken, Yuta Kubo, Giorgio Petrosyan, Daniel Ghita, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky and Albert Kraus.

Spike TV has a long tradition of telecasting the best in action sports, and is currently the home of the emerging mixed martial arts league, Bellator MMA.