A victorious Simon Marcus (photo via James Law / GLORY)

By Kelsey Mowatt

It’s been somewhat of a bumpy ride for GLORY in recent months, but middleweight champ Simon Marcus believes the best is yet to come for the kickboxing promotion.

Back in 2014, GLORY appeared to have significant momentum behind it, after landing a broadcast deal with SPIKE. But, the company took a hit when it’s stacked “Last Man Standing” card in June of that year, reportedly did rather poorly in pay-per-view sales.

Then, last fall, it was announced that GLORY would no longer air on SPIKE. The news raised questions amongst kickboxing observers, in terms of GLORY’s future in the North American landscape. But, more recently, not only did GLORY secure a new broadcasting deal with ESPN, it also reached an agreement with UFC Fight Pass.

“I personally think GLORY’s getting a lot more popular,” Marcus said on a recent episode of Full Contact Fighter Radio. “Just from my consensus of people that I talk with, the general fight fans, or the general public, are becoming a little bit more aware of GLORY. Whereas, even a year-and-a-half, even two years ago, you would say GLORY and nobody would know what you’re talking about. It’s becoming a little bit more popular.”

“I think GLORY has some of the best, or the best, kickboxers and stand-up fighters in the world, so it’s just a matter of giving people characters and different fighters that they can follow, and become a little bit more emotionally attached…I just think that some of the fighters aren’t as marketable outside of the ring, just giving people something to want to see. So I think the more interesting characters the public’s exposed to, the bigger and bigger the show’s going to get. I think this year’s going to be a huge year for GLORY.”

GLORY’s content deal with the UFC’s Fight Pass, comes at a time when the MMA giant’s leading competitor, Bellator, has unveiled its own kickboxing promotion.

“Definitely matching up with the UFC is a good look when it comes to exposure, and getting more people aware of what’s going on with GLORY kickboxing,” Marcus noted.

GLORY 29 is booked for April 16th in Copenhagen, Denmark. Marcus’s next bout has yet to be announced.