Anissa Meksen vs. Ashley Nichols Added to GLORY 52
By FCF Staff
DENVER – GLORY, the world’s premier stand-up combat league, today announced several new match-ups for the promotion’s return to California on Saturday, March 31.
Newly-crowned GLORY super bantamweight champion Anissa Meksen (94-3, 30 KO, fighting out of France) will compete in a 53-kilogram (116.8 pounds) catchweight bout that co-headlines GLORY 52 Los Angeles from the Pacific Room at the Long Beach Arena.
Meksen’s opponent for the three-round non-title superfight is Ashley“AK-47” Nichols (12-4, fighting out of Canada), who seeks to even score after dropping a decision to Meksen in 2014.
Having earned multiple French national, European and world championships before joining the organization, Meksen’s title quest has shown no signs of slowing under the GLORY banner. She has remained undefeated – going a perfect 3-0 – since debuting in July of 2017 and most recently captured GLORY gold with a unanimous decision victory over Tiffany Van Soest at GLORY 48 New York in December.
Counting her previous meeting with Meksen, Nichols has faced a who’s who of top strikers, including Van Soest, Iman Barlow and the UFC’s Angela Hill. She also competes in mixed martial arts for the promotion Invicta FC.
Due to a neck injury, Marat Grigorian will not be able to compete at GLORY 52 Los Angeles. His scheduled opponent Stoyan “The Sniper” Koprivlenski (9-1, 4 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) will now face No. 7-ranked lightweight Josh Jauncey (26-9, 15 KO, fighting out of Canada). Their bout will take place during GLORY 52 SuperFight Series.
Koprivlenski, hailing from Bulgaria, is ranked No. 3 following his lightweight contender tournament victory at GLORY 49 Rotterdam.
GLORY interim light heavyweight champion Pavel “The Caiman” Zhuravlev (71-11, 26 KO, fighting out of Ukraine) headlines GLORY 52 SuperFight Series, taking on Myron “The Future” Dennis (19-6, 8 KO, fighting out of the United States) in a three-round non-title bout.
Zhuravlev last competed at GLORY 43 New York in July, capturing the interim title in a win over Saulo Cavalari, while Dennis returns to the GLORY ring for the first time since 2016.
Plus, top-10 featherweights square off at GLORY 52 SuperFight Series as No. 8 Zakaria Zouggary (30-4-1, 15 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) takes on No. 10 Bailey “Bad Boy” Sugden (11-1, 2 KO, fighting out of the United Kingdom).
The current fight cards for GLORY 52 Los Angeles and GLORY 52 SuperFight Series can be found below:
GLORY 52 Los Angeles
Featherweight Unification Bout: Robin van Roosmalen (c) vs. Kevin VanNostrand (ic)
Middleweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Catchweight (53 kg) Bout: Anissa Meksen vs. Ashley Nichols
Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: Jason Wilnis vs. Robert Thomas
Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Yousri Belgaroui vs. Simon Marcus
GLORY 52 SuperFight Series
Light Heavyweight Headline Bout: Pavel Zhuravlev vs. Myron Dennis
Middleweight Bout: Mike Lemaire vs. Chris Camozzi
Lightweight Bout: Stoyan Koprivlenski vs. Josh Jauncey
Featherweight Bout: Zakaria Zouggary vs. Bailey Sugden
One additional GLORY 52 SuperFight Series bout will be announced shortly.
GLORY 52 Los Angeles will be carried live on ESPN3 at 11 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT on Saturday, March, 31. GLORY 51 SuperFight Series will stream live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on Saturday, March, 31.
Tickets for GLORY 52 Los Angeles and GLORY 52 SuperFight Series, with prices ranging $40 – $150, are on sale now and available for purchase at ticketmaster.com.
For more information about GLORY, visit glorykickboxing.com.