65kg reserve: Chonlek Super Pro Samui vs. Zen Fujita
65kg reserve: Yukihiro Komiya vs. Andrej Bruhl
65kg semi final: Mosab Amrani vs. Marcus Vinicius
65kg semi final: Liam Harrison vs. Masaaki Noiri
65kg semi final: Abdellah Ezbiri vs. Gabriel Varga
65kg semi final: Yuta Kubo vs. Chi Bin Lim
HW: Peter Aerts vs. Jamal Ben Saddik
70kg: Albert Kraus vs. Andy Ristie
HW: Jerome Le Banner vs. Koichi Watanabe
70kg: Yoshihiro Sato vs. Sung Hyun Lee
Road to GLORY:
85kg semi final: Magnum Sakai vs. Toshio Matsumoto
85kg semi final: Kengo Shimizu vs. Yuki Niimura
55kg: Dyki vs. Jang Yong Ho
60kg: Yuji Takeuchi vs. Tatsuya Inaishi
70kg: Danilo Zanolini vs. Hirono Yu
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The event will also feature another superfight between legendary Dutch heavyweight champion Peter Aerts (102-30-1, 77 KOs) and fast-rising Belgian star Jamal Ben Saddik (24-2, 20 KOs), as well as a lightweight superfight between prolific superstars Andy Ristie (36-3-1, 18 KOs) of Suriname and Albert "The Hurricane" Kraus (75-15-3, 45 KOs) of the Netherlands.
The 40-year-old Le Banner, who has faced and defeated nearly every major rival of his generation, including legends Ernesto Hoost and Peter Aerts, stalked and punished Koichi with punch combinations and body kicks during their initial meeting, but Koichi's iron chin helped him stay on his feet, retaliate and dish out leg kicks that badly damaged the lead thigh of Le Banner and slowed the Frenchman down before Le Banner connected with the finishing blow.
In one bracket of the GLORY 8 Tokyo featherweight tournament, world Muay Thai champion Mosab "The Jaguar" Amrani (48-7-4, 14 KOs) of Holland will square off with aggressive-minded Marcus Vinicius (7-1, 1 KO) of Brazil and KO artist Liam Harrison (72-15-2, 38 KOs) of England will face Road To GLORY Japan tournament champion Masaaki Noiri (18-3, 7 KOs) of Japan.
In the other tournament bracket, three-time French kickboxing champion Abdallah Ezbiri (32-6, 11 KOs) of Morocco via France will meet two-time kickboxing champion Gabriel Varga (21-1, 8 KOs) of Canada and two-time, eight-man kickboxing tournament winner Yuta Kubo (37-4-1, 17 KOs) of Japan will battle hard-hitting Lim Chi Bin (69-16, 40 KOs) of South Korea.
The winner of the quarterfinal stage bout between Amrani and Vinicius will face the winner of the quarterfinal stage fight between Harrison and Noiri while the victor of the quarterfinal stage contest between Ezbiri and Varga will square off with the winner of the bout between Kubo and Lim. The two winners of the semifinal stage fights will face off in the championship stage of the tournament with a $100,000 grand prize at stake.
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GLORY 8 Tokyo:
65kg reserve: Chonglek Super Pro Samui vs. Zen Fujita
65kg reserve: Andre Bruhl vs. Yukihiro Komiya
65kg quarter final: Mosab Amrani vs. Marcus Vinicius
65kg quarter final: Masaaki Noiri vs. Liam Harrison
65kg quarter final: Abdellah Ezbiri vs. Gabriel Varga
65kg quarter final: Yuta Kubo vs. Abdellah Ezbiri
HW: Jerome Le Banner vs. Koichi Pettas
HW: Peter Aerts vs. Jamal Ben Saddik
HW: Anderson "Braddock" Silva vs. Jaideep Singh
70kg: Albert Kraus vs. Andy Ristie
Road to GLORY:
85kg semi final: Magnum Sakai vs. Toshio Matsumoto
85kg semi final: Yuki Niimura vs. Kengo Shimizu
55kg: Dyki vs. TBA
60kg: Yuji Takeuchi vs. Tatsuya Inaishi
70kg: Hirono Yu vs. Ryoji
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ADDITIONAL SUPERFIGHTS:
ANDY RISTIE VS. ALBERT KRAUS
JAIDEEP SINGH VS. ANDERSON ‘BRADDOCK’ SILVA
EIGHT-MAN TOURNAMENT FIELD COMPLETE WITH ADDITION OF YUTA KUBO, MASAAKI NOIRI, LIAM HARRISON, GABRIEL VARGA AND CHI BIN LIN
GLORY, the world’s new premier kickboxing league, today announced the addition of three Superfights, including a heavyweight showdown between legendary champio! n Peter Aerts (102-30-1, 77 KOs) of The Netherlands and fast-rising star Jamal Ben Saddik (24-2, 20 KOs) of Belgium, to the much-anticipated GLORY 8 Tokyo event that will be headlined by a one-night, eight-man ‘Slam’ tournament in the GLORY featherweight (65 kilograms/143 pounds) division, at Ariake Coliseum on Friday, May 3.
In another heavyweight Superfight contest, Jaideep Singh (23-6, 17 KOs) of Japan will face Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva (35-9-1, 24 KOs) of Brazil. A lightweight (70 kilograms/154 pounds) Superfight will pit prolific superstars Andy Ristie (36-3-1, 18 KOs) of Suriname and Albert “The Hurricane” Kraus (75-15-3, 45 KOs) of The Netherlands against one another.
The single-elimination tournament field has been completed with the addition of five fighters. Road To GLORY Japan tournament champion Masaaki Noiri (18-3, 7 KOs) of Japan; two-time, eight-man tournament victor Yuta Kubo (37-4-1, 17 KOs) of Japan; KO artist Liam Harrison (72-15-2, 38 KOs) of England; two-time kickboxing champion Gabriel Varga (21-1, 8 KOs) of Canada; and Lim Chi Bin (69-16, 40 KOs) of South Korea join previously announced Marcus Vinicius (7-1, 1 KO) of Brazil, three-time French kickboxing champion Abdellah Ezbiri (32-6, 11 KOs) of Morocco via France and world Muay Thai champion Mosab “The Jaguar” Amrani (48-7-4, 14 KOs) of Holland in the tournament.
Aerts, recognized as one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all-time, has faced and defeated every major rival of his generation, incl! uding reigning GLORY Heavyweight Champion Semmy Schilt, and, at age 42, he continues to do battle at the top of the division.
At 23 years of age, Ben Saddik, a native of Morocco, is nearly two decades younger than Aerts, and is on the fast-track to stardom. Nicknamed “The Goliath,” Ben Saddik is a monstrous specimen at 2.02 meters/6-foot-7 1/2, 129 kilograms/284 pounds.
Ben Saddik is coming off a strong performance at the GLORY 4 Tokyo Heavyweight Grand Slam, 16-man tournament on New Year’s Eve, where he earned two consecutive unanimous decisions over Errol Zimmerman and Remy Bonjasky, respectively, to reach the semifinal stage of the single-elimination playoff where he was defeated by world No. 2 ranked heavyweight Daniel Ghita.
Born in India, but raised in Japan since the age of three, the 25-year-old Singh ! has dominated his Japanese rivals, winning two championships while conquering the likes of Raoumaru, Hiromi Amada and Koichi Watanabe.
The 26-year-old Silva, touted as the No. 1 heavyweight kickboxer in Brazil, made his debut in Tokyo as one of the 16 GLORY tournament competitors on New Year’s Eve. Silva scored an impressive first round TKO on Igor Juskovic to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinal round where he was stopped by world No. 3 ranked heavyweight Gokhan Saki.
Ristie, a 31-year-old star known for tremendous punching power and knee strikes, rose to prominence, beginning with his March 2011 debut for the now-defunct ‘It’s Showtime’ kickboxing league when he scored a thunderous first round KO on Nick Beljaards and went on to win his next five consecutive starts for ‘It’s Showtime,’ which was acquired by GLORY in October 2012. !
Ristie made a splash debut for GLORY in Brussels, Belgium in October, scoring a crushing, first round KO on Nordin Benmoh with a left hook.
The 32-year-old Kraus is a four-time world kickboxing and Muay Thai champion who is coming off his fifth consecutive win, a unanimous decision over Warren Stevelmans at GLORY 5 London on March 23. Since making his pro debut in 1999, Kraus has etched a legacy for himself as one of the most fearsome athletes in the sport, blazing a trail through the lightweight division while defeating the likes of rival champions Buakaw Por Pramuk, Masato and Mike Zambidis amongst others.
Tickets for GLORY 8 Tokyo on Friday, May 3, beginning at 16:00 at Ariake Coliseum, are priced from ¥5,000, and can be purchased online at Pia (http://pia.jp/t/), E-Plus (http://eplus.jp) and Lawson Ticket (http:l-tike.com).
GLORY will award a total of $180,000 in prize money to the tournament competitors, including a $100,000 grand prize to the winner.
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