GLORY 86 Preview-Petch Looks to Defend Title

GLORY 86 is set to take place this Saturday May 27th in Essen, Germany. In what is sure to be another fantastic night of contests, the GLORY featherweight title will be up for grabs in the main event between Petch and rising German contender Ahmad Chikh Mousa.

GLORY 86 Set for Featherweight Title Main Event Showdown

Enriko Kehl makes his GLORY debut against top-ranked lightweight contender Guerric Billet in 3️⃣ days at #GLORY86!#GLORY86 | MAY 27 | @videoland | https://t.co/mtc7jeEIOh pic.twitter.com/yp2UAKJ9A7

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) May 24, 2023

Petch vs Chikh Mousa

Featherweight champion Petch is coming off of a defeat after losing to GLORY lightweight champion Tyjani Beztati at GLORY 84 in a bid to become a double champion in the organization. Returning back to his original weight class, Petch will make his first defense of the belt since defeating Mexican challenger Abraham Vidales at GLORY Collison 4. Reigning over the division ever since defeating Robin Van Roosmalen at GLORY 59 in 2018, Petch will be looking to utilize his vast experience and 200+ fight career to dispatch Chikh Mousa and complete a successful sixth defense of the belt.

Ahmad Chikh Mousa has been on a hot-streak ever since making his GLORY debut at GLORY 81. Having competed on three straight events, Mousa picked up victories at GLORY 81, GLORY 82, and GLORY 83 with perhaps his most notable coming at GLORY 83. His fight with prospect Berjan Peposhi is certainly in talks for the fight of the year. While not possessing the experience of someone such as Petch, Mousa has managed to develop an extremely impressive record of 58-8-1 all at the tender age of 23. He will be looking to continue on his perfect start to life in GLORY and a victory over the virtually untouchable Petch would make a massive statement not only in GLORY but to the entire kickboxing world.

Co-Main Event: Benjamin Adegbuyi vs Sofian Laidouni

The co-main event of GLORY 86 will see a heavyweight clash between Benjamin Adegbuyi and Sofian Laidouni. The pair will be duking it out in order to determine who will be entering the Heavyweight Grand Prix set to take place in December of this year. Adegbuyi will fancy his chances as he has the distinction to be the only fighter in GLORY history to win three different contender tournaments. The longtime challenger Adegbuyi made his promotional debut back in 2014 and has since gone 15-5 with the promotion. Adegbuyi has defeated several top competitors in his time such as Badr Hari and Jahfarr Wilnis and his losses have come to the toughest of competition such as Rico Verehoeven and Antonio Plazibat. At the age of 38, he is likely in the twilight of his career and may fancy himself for one last tournament, a format he has found so much success with in the past.

In order to get to the tournament he will have to get through Sofian Laidouni. A relative newcomer to GLORY with only one previous appearance Laidouni picked up a victory over Nabil Khachab at GLORY 84. With a record of 35-2-1, Laidouni has proved that he is more than capable of mixing it up with the best heavyweights on the planet. At only 28 years old, Laidouni is considerably younger than Adegbuyi and will be hoping that his youth will allow him to dispatch the old veteran. A win against Adegbuyi would certainly do wonders in establishing Laidouni as a legitimate contender of the division and would provide him with some serious momentum heading into the December Grand Prix.

The Rest of Card

Luis Tavares vs Bahram Rajabzadeh

Luis Tavares will be looking to make up for the lost opportunity he suffered last month when he was forced to pull out of the GLORY 85 Heavyweight Tournament due to illness. He will be looking to make a statement by delivering an impressive performance at heavyweight against Bahram Rajabzadeh. Rajabzadeh has competed only once in GLORY, losing his debut to current #1 ranked Light Heavyweight contender Sergej Maslobojev. Yet, this is the only loss he has on an otherwise hugely impressive and virtually unheard of record of 57-1 with an astonishing 54 of those wins coming by way of KO. Rajabzadeh also picked up a Gold Medal in Kickboxing at last year’s World Games held in Birmingham, Alabama. It remains to be seen whether the Azerbaijani will be able to add to his extremely impressive record amongst the highest level of competition in the world.

Guerric Billet vs Enriko Kehl

Number one ranked lightweight Guerric Billet will welcome veteran German Kickboxer Enriko Kehl to GLORY in a highly anticipated matchup. The fight has huge implications for both men. A win for Kehl potentially offers a title fight in his next bout and a win for Billet adds a hugely impressive name to the resume. Kehl previously fought in ONE Championship and is the last man to beat current ONE Featherweight Kickboxing Champion and current pound-for-pound number one in the world Chingiz Allazov. Along with a victory over Allazov, Kehl has picked up wins over other former world champions in his career including Liam Nolan and the Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek.

Sarah Moussaddak vs Giuliana Cosnard

A fight in the women’s bantamweight division will see former title challenger Sarah Moussaddak take on Giuliana Cosnard. Moussaddak has gone 2-2 with the promotion, having lost her last fight for the title against Tiffany Von Soest. A fairly inexperienced fighter in the pro game with a record of 6-2, she will have a tough task ahead in dealing with Cosnard. A veteran with a record of 47 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw with 10 knockouts, Giuliana Cosnard has established herself as one of the most dangerous women not only in the bantamweight division but on the planet.

Robin Ciric vs Chico Kwasi

An all Dutch affair, this fight will be a battle of welterweight contenders with both fighters ranked at #4 and #6 respectively in the division. Each fighter possesses a similar level of skill and experience with Robin Ciric boasting a record of 38-7 while Chico Kwasi currently stands at 37-4. Each fighter will be looking to gain a win in this fight and use it as a springboard to challenge a higher ranked contender with the ultimate goal being a fight against current champion Endy Semeleer. This is a fight not to be missed as GLORY themselves have described this match up as a strong fight of the night candidate.

Jouri De Sousa vs Joilton Lutterbach

Jouri De Sousa will look to gain his first victory under the GLORY banner as he welcomes Joilton Lutterbach to the middleweight division. Lutterbach will be looking to expand on his debut performance by acquiring another win and another knockout to his name.

Uku Jurjendal vs Mantas Rimdeika

This heavyweight bout will start the show on Saturday night and will feature two young competitors in Uku Jurjendal and Mantas Rimdeika. Both men will be looking to make a statement for the rest of the division with the winner possibly angling for a matchup with the loser from the Adegbuyi vs Laidouni matchup.

If you enjoyed this article check out so more using the links down below: