GLORY 94 delivered another fantastic, action-packed event. However, as the smoke clears and the dust settles, five key points are now clear to GLORY fans worldwide.
1 - Berjan Peposhi is finding form
It was an excellent evening for Berjan Peposhi who emerged on the victorious side of a unanimous decision in his bout against Ayoub Bourass. The win cemented Peposhi’s place among the elites of the Featherweight division. Long considered to be among the most exciting fighters on the roster, Peposhi did not have an ideal start to his GLORY career. His first three outings all ended in decision defeats to Ahmad Chikh Mousa, Jan Kaffa and Denis Wocik respectively. Despite all three ending in defeat each fight was a thrilling contest and Peposhi staked his claim as a fan favourite. He picked up his first win in GLORY last December with a win over Miguel Trindade and has not looked back since, avenging his loss over Ahmad Chikh Mousa and as of GLORY 94, he has extended his win streak to three.
Now able to get the results to go along with the Fight of the Year performances it is a certainty we will be seeing Peposhi in and amongst the title picture sometime soon.
2 - A new name for the Heavyweight Division
GLORY 94 treated us to plenty of Nico Horta. The Cape Verdean fighter defeated the always game Sofian Laidouni on the main card of the event. Horta was certainly the underdog into the fight and was not expected to hand Laidouni just the 4th loss of his career. Previously Laidouni had been 4-1 in GLORY with his only loss coming against reigning Heavyweight king Rico Verhoeven. Yet "Big Sexy" was able to beat the odds and take his own GLORY record to 1-1 after suffering a defeat to Levi Rigters in his debut earlier this year.
While of course it is too early to say whether Horta will go on to become a stalwart at Heavyweight, he’s outgoing personality certainly won over fans in the lead up to this scrap and with a win over a name such as Laidouni he has shown that he has the skill set to back it up. Expect him to be involved in big fights for the future.
3 - Mo Amine needs a break
Once considered an extremely promising prospect Mohamed Amine made his very first appearance for GLORY all the way back in 2017. This ended in defeat, however Amine was not discouraged and went on to establish himself as an extremely credible light heavyweight prospect amassing a record of 28 wins and just 4 defeats. This impressive run of form saw Amine recalled to GLORY six years later at GLORY 85 where he would take on former tournament winner Michael Duut. Amine would outclass Duut throughout the fight and look like a future world beater in what could be considered his second debut for GLORY.
Unfortunately his career has not continued in this fashion. Amine has fought 5 times since defeating Duut and has lost every bout with 4 ending in brutal Knockouts. Possibly the most vicious of the bunch was the most recent. A second round flying knee from Mory Kromah at GLORY 94. Admittedly Amine has been fighting some of the best in the world however, this run of defeats is unacceptable no matter the standard of the competition. Clearly something needs to change and Amine may need to take some time away from the sport to decide whether he wants to do this anymore.
4 - Underdogs do win
As we discussed earlier, GLORY 94 was an event for the underdog with the likes of Nico Horta triumphing over Sofian Laidouni. However there was a bout which blew this out of the water. Angelo Volpe emerged victorious against Youssef Boughanem. Volpe despite his young age has 44 fights to his name and 39 victories. Yet this pales in comparison to his opponent. Muay Thai legend Youssef Boughanem. Boughanem is a former Muay Thai world champion as well as a Lumpinee Stadium champion. He possesses a record of 188 wins with 44 losses. An astonishing 120 of his victories have ended in a knockout. Boughanem made his debut in GLORY earlier this year and unsurprisingly won the fight via knockout at GLORY 91.
Many were tipping him to go on and do big things in the organisation (which he is still more than capable of doing) yet Angelo Volpe has derailed the hype train with a deserved decision victory at GLORY 94. Volpe’s own reputation will now be massively boosted and don’t be surprised to see him thrown into some high stakes fights by the end of the year.
5 - Stefan Latescu is not done yet
Still only 22 years old, Stefan Latescu is a name that has been on the lips of GLORY fans for some time now. Coming into the promotion as an extremely highly touted prospect Latescu lived up to the hype with two wins in his debut couple of fights in the promotion. The 'Golden Boy' saw himself entered into the GLORY Light Heavyweight Grand Prix where he would pick up his first loss in the promotion to Donegi Abena. Of course, there is no shame in this. Abena has established himself as one of the best if not THE best Light Heavyweight in the world for years now. Latescu still remained towards the top of the Light Heavyweight pyramid and was originally meant to headline GLORY 94 against Bahram Rajabzadeh.
This would not happen and Rajabzadeh will instead be filling in on the GLORY 95 card. Latescu was paired with Cem Caceres as a late notice replacement. Latescu was finished with a body shot in the first round. This does not mean the end of a career or anything like that for Latescu however it may mean taking the foot off the gas slightly. GLORY probably should keep him away from the title picture for the time being and allow him to rebuild back up. Obviously the skill set is there but perhaps a little more refinement is needed. Now losing his last two fights, confidence must return before mixing with the killers of the division. Plenty of time for this though, he is still only 22.
