After a two-year-long 4-fight losing streak, Donegi Abena came back strong with a win over top contender Felipe Micheletti, and would go on to avenge his loss to Sergej Maslobojev in a controversial stoppage due to injury to finally reach the pinnacle of the sport. At only 24 years old, the young Surinamese star had become the GLORY Light Heavyweight Champion. However, after defending the title only once, Tarik Khbabez - also coming out of a two-year-long slump of his own - upset the champion, taking a controversial split decision through five grueling rounds.
During the fight, Abena had a point deducted in the second round for a punch to the back of the head that didn't connect. In response, Khbabez's trainer entered the ring in the middle of the round and initially refused to comply with the referee's order to leave.
There would be no immediate rematch in the aftermath of the controversial decision, however, as a Light Heavyweight Grand Prix had been confirmed for just three months later, both men were placed on the same side of the bracket. It was unfortunate for Khbabez, then, that in his opening fight against Pascal Touré, despite winning the fight comfortably, his lack of defense against leg kicks put him out of contention for the tournament title. Though the Surinamese kickboxer had a tougher opening-round opponent in Ștefan Lătescu, he was able to leave the fight relatively fresh with a clean third-round leg kicks stoppage, while the Morroccan's lead leg had been thoroughly tenderized. On the way to a career-defining tournament for Abena, he stopped Khababez in the second round of the semi-final, once again with leg kicks then shockingly stopped Bahram Rajabzadeh in the first round to once again become the number 1 at Light Heavyweight.
Their highly-anticipated rubber match in December will have Abena as the heavy favorite, but Khababez is more determined than ever to defend his title and protect his position atop the GLORY Light Heavyweight division.
