With Kwasi moving up in weight, his goal is clear: to become the third multi-division champion in the promotion’s history. Naturally, we wanted to find out what motivated that decision. When asked what went through his mind, he said, "It sounded like a huge opportunity for me. These are the kind of moments I live for — to prove to myself that I’m the best and that I can make history."
Kwasi has been GLORY’s welterweight champion since GLORY 91 by knocking out Endy Semeleer back in 2024. Since then, he has defended his title four times. His decision to move up to middleweight is a bold one, considering Kwasi comes from welterweight, an 8 kg difference! "At first, the fight was supposed to be at 95 kg, and even then, I said yes. I know I have a chance against any fighter," Kwasi confidently replied.
Donovan Wisse has been the middleweight champion since 2021 after former champion Alex Pereira vacated his belt to pursue a now very successful career in MMA. Ever since he has looked unstoppable, imposing his strategist will on his opposition and by that he cleaned out the division. That is why Wisse was supposed to fight for the Light Heavyweight title. He was looking for the next challenge. But as fate would have it, the division is not yet ready to let Donovan Wisse go.
With Chico Kwasi as his next challenger, it poses a true clash of style.
"Wisse is one of my favorite fighters in GLORY. I’ve watched all of his fights, and he has very few weaknesses. He’s the kind of fighter who does almost everything well and can adapt really well during a fight. It’s going to be a tough matchup, but I have a game plan that I’m going to execute to get the win.", Kwasi said.
Kwasi is known to be a huge fan of anime. Not a surprise since his nickname ‘Luffy’ is the name of the protagonist of the popular anime ONE PIECE by Eiichiro Oda. Like any shōnen anime, his career is built up from rivalries, arcs and sagas. Last December Chico hit a stumble on the road. After 4 successful title defenses he entered a 4-man tournament at COLLISION 8. Losing the semi-final to Bulgarian rival Teodor Hristov. While not an excuse, this fight marked his first 3 rounder since 2023. Now that the score is 1-1, many expected a rubbermatch for the belt. But with his eyes on the Middleweight title, the next arc in his career is set. "It’s a redemption arc after my last fight — a moment where almost nobody believes in me, but I’m still going to show them."
Since this is a late replacement bout against a fully trained master of middleweight, many people count Kwasi out. But I can’t help to think "what if?" Wisse has never faced anyone like Chico Kwasi and his unorthodox style. This made me think of GLORY 12 when the unorthodox Andy Ristie upset another master tactician in Giorgio Petrosyan, who seemed unbeatable upon that point. If Chico somehow pulls the upset, imagine the possibilities. A fight with Michael Boapeah would be insane! But when asked Chico said: "Right now, I’m fully focused on this fight first. I’m still the welterweight champion too, so after this one I’ll need to take my time and really think about what comes next."
Recently GLORY announced a Grand Prix in the welterweight division, something many fans have wanted for years now. Ergo there are many options for Kwasi. If we talk about a title fight at welterweight, right now Hristov seems the most logical choice. Of course the big fight would’ve been a rematch against rival Endy Semeleer. Unfortunately like many kickboxers before him, he decided to pursue a career in mixed martial arts. When I asked Kwasi what he thought about Semeleer trading kickboxing for MMA, he said: "On one hand, it’s a shame, but if that’s better for his future, then he should do it. I believe we’ll cross paths again, whether in MMA or kickboxing."
For now Chico is focussed on the opportunity to create history. But I can’t help but think about what he said earlier. The fight was supposed to happen at 95kg, so should he defy all odds and become a double champion, would he still want to go after the 95 kg title? "Honestly, the plan was actually to fight at 95 at first. But I think if I’ve got the 77 and 85 titles, I won’t really need to prove myself at 95.[LAUGHS]"
Interestingly, originally it was not Kwasi but Wisse who aimed to become a multi-divisional champion.
Donovan Wisse was supposed to fight fan-favorite Bahram Rajabzadeh for the vacant Light Heavyweight belt. The road to this card’s titlefight has been quite messy. Originally Tarik Khbabez was slated to defend his Light Heavyweight belt. When GLORY announced Bahram Rajabzadeh as his next opponent, Khbabez refused, explaining he didn’t want an immediate rematch without proper financial compensation. GLORY stripped Khbabez of his title and middleweight champion Donovan Wisse stepped up to challenge Bahram Rajabzadeh for the now vacant Light Heavyweight belt. In a surprising twist, Rajabzadeh had to pull out because of a groin injury, hence why Chico Kwasi had been called to take on Wisse.
It’s ironic that after all the drama the main event will be a Middleweight titlefight. Especially after GLORY announced their intention to drop Middleweight and focus on the remaining weightclasses.
GLORY 107 goes down on Saturday 25th of April at the RTM Stage in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
