Some years, there have been so many events that have been equally good that it’s hard to pick the one that stood out the most. Luckily for the Beyond Kickboxing staff, this year one event so clearly stood above the rest that it made the award-picking process a breeze for us – the GLORY Light Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Donegi Abena chose this event to showcase the sort of power not previously seen from the 26-year-old, who in a series of three exciting fights captured the GLORY light heavyweight tournament title, which placed him alongside the two previous winners of such an honor: Tyron Spong and Gökhan Saki. Stoppages were the theme of the evening, with 8 out of 11 fights ending in a knockout, significantly above GLORY’s average of 35% this year. As a matter of fact, this event alone accounted for nearly a quarter of all stoppages fans of the promotion saw this year.
This might sound like a simple reason for naming an event “the best of the year”. Certainly, the fights weren’t the most masterful showcases of technique and skill, they weren’t lengthy contests of will with major shifts of momentum. They were quick, thrilling and violent affairs with electrifying endings. The sort of thing that made us fans of kickboxing and what makes those who aren’t yet fans desire to see more of the sport. And although one might grow weary of seeing middle of the road journeyman brawl week in and week out, this wasn’t the case here. These were eight of the very best, fighters who currently are or in the near past were featured in our divisional rankings and who showed why they deserved to be there during this event.
HONORABLE MENTION
GLORY x RISE Featherweight Grand Prix
The event brought back the charm and intrigue of the old K-1 MAX tournaments, which not even the MAX ReBoot that took place this year was able to bring back. First officially announced in June, the reveal immediately got fans of the sport talking. Which of the four participants who had already earned their ticket would win it? RISE standout Kento Haraguchi, knockout artist Miguel Trindade, last year’s breakout fighter of the year Chadd Collins or the long-reigning GLORY champion Petchpanomrung?
To add to the speculation, four additional fighters not announced at the time further fueled talks among kickboxing enthusiasts, with every single one putting forward the name of their own darling, who they thought would take the trophy after all. The expectations, the anticipation, the predictions, created an atmosphere around the event not seen since the historical “The Match 2022” took place almost three years ago.
The tournament brackets more than delivered: masterful outfighting performances, sloberknockers, brutal stoppages, you name it and it took place. The southpaw fighting style of Petchpanomrung brought him another notable achievement in the end, alongside a number of others: 7 year GLORY champion, most successful and consecutive title defenses in the promotion’s history, etc., etc. The fact that the favorite won however, didn’t discount the excitement of the event in the slightest.
