In late 2021, dominant GLORY Middleweight Champion & interim Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira unified the division against Artem Vakhitov. This made him the first - and still only - double champ in GLORY Kickboxing history. Tyjani Beztati, having foiled Petchpanomrung's attempt at becoming double champ last year, now looks to capture the Welterweight title against newly-crowned champion Chico Kwasi.
At only 26 years old, the Moroccan champion has had a rocky road in GLORY to get to where he is today. Beztati made his GLORY debut at only 19 years old, and despite losing his first two Lightweight title fights against perhaps two of the greatest Lightweights of all time Sittichai and Marat Grigorian, Beztati kept on pushing. Once the two legends were gone from the organisation, the Moroccan was given the insurmountable task of getting out of the shadow of ONE's 70 kg division, filled to the brim with legends of the sport. Just in the past two years, Beztati has firmly established himself as the best 70 kg kickboxer outside of ONE Championship, then moved up and defeated former Welterweight Champion Endy Semeleer with a clear decision. With a strong run behind him, the Lightweight Champion now seeks to become a double champion.
On the other side stands the new Welterweught Champion Chico Kwasi. While the 26-year-old only made his GLORY debut last year, he had already been one of the best young 77 kg kickboxers in the world. Recently, with wins over Sergej Braun, Robin Ciric, Jay Overmeer, and Endy Semeleer, Kwasi has propelled himself to the top of the division, in the same conversation as ONE's Alexis Nicolas and Regian Eersel. While he is a big 77 kg fighter, he will have only a small size advantage over Beztati, but Kwasi's awkward style may prove the deciding factor in this fight.
