Rarely in kickboxing history have two promotions closed in standing been so open to co-promote and elevate the sport as GLORY and RISE.
Earlier in the week, the two promotions jointly announced a massive 32-man "Last Featherweight Standing" tournament, another milestone in the historic partnership. Each promotion will conduct four fights in the first leg. The winners will then be matched with a member of the in-house top four.
For GLORY, this will likely be Petchpanomrung, Miguel Trindade, and two others, and for RISE, Chadd Collins, Kento Haraguchi, Lee Sung Hyun, and one other.
The opening round of the tournament will take place on June 21 at the Yokohama Buntai in Japan.
GLORY was first to announce two fights to kick off their side of the bracket. The highly-accomplished French Nak Muay who recently surged to the top of the division with wins over David Mejia and Denis Wosik. Bobo Sacko will face one of the hottest prospects in Europe, the explosive Andre Santos of Portugal who is coming off an underwhelming win against a tough Chris Wunn last month. Enfusion star who recently came to GLORY Ayoub Bourass will take on Spanish standout Aitor Ibanez Currito, who won a shock upset against Eddy Nait Slimani before falling to Rémi Parra in the final of a major French Muay Thai one-night tournament late last year.
Behind the anticipation and excitement, there is worry about the potential length of the tournament, as it could run on for well over a year. The strength of RISE's bracket is also in question as its 65 kg roster is very top-heavy.
