GLORY 55 Preliminary Card Announced
By FCF Staff
DENVER – GLORY, the world’s premier stand-up combat league, today announced the six-bout preliminary card slated to kick off an action-packed fight night in New York City on Saturday, July 20.
Preceding GLORY 55 New York and GLORY 55 SuperFight Series, the top three preliminary bouts will be streamed live from The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden via the GLORY YouTube channel, GLORY Facebook page, and Pluto TV channel 215.
In the main event of the GLORY 55 prelims, Palestinian-American prospect Ahmad Ibrahim (4-1, fighting out of the United States) takes on Montreal’s Jonathan Di Bella
(6-0, fighting out of Canada) at 125 pounds.
Ibrahim started in Tae Kwon Do at the age of five, achieving a second-degree black belt before transitioning to Muay Thai. Di Bella also began his fighting journey at a young age, taking up Karate at two years old before earning his black belt in Kyokushin.
Born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, but now living and training in Brooklyn, Zarrukh Adashev (13-3, fighting out of the United States) will compete in a 135-pound contest with Geoffrey Then (4-2, fighting out of the United States), a Dominican-American Muay Thai practitioner and mixed martial artist hailing from Connecticut.
The first bout streamed during the GLORY 55 prelims will be a 155-pound battle between Brooklyn-based John Pina (4-0, fighting out of the United States) – known as “Johnny Love” – and New Jersey native Brandon Cuttino (3-1, fighting out of the United States) – known as “The Mechanic” – of Team Tiger Schulmann.
Also on the GLORY 55 prelims:
Representing Longo and Weidman MMA, Long Island’s Jennie Nedell (10-3, fighting out of the United States) meets Angelo Simson student Chavella Lee (11-3, fighting out of Suriname) at 140 pounds.
Welterweight Avaz Achilov (7-4, fighting out of the United States), a teammate of Adashev at Lions Martial Arts Center in Brooklyn, throws down with undefeated Malik “Heartbreak” Blake (3-0, fighting out of the United States) of Harlem.
Sitan Gym product Omar Ahmed (9-3, fighting out of the United States), a two-time WKA North American champion and two-time WKA US champion, squares off against two-time WKU world champion Niko Tsigaris (20-4, fighting out of the United States), who trains at Fight Factory Gym in Brooklyn by way of Greece and Uzbekistan.
The six-fight GLORY 55 preliminary card can be found below:
GLORY 55 Prelims
125 Pound Bout: Ahmad Ibrahim vs. Jonathan Di Bella
135 Pound Bout: Zarrukh Adashev vs. Geoffrey Then
155 Pound Bout: John Pina vs. Brandon Cuttino
140 Pound Bout: Jennie Nedell vs. Chavella Lee
Welterweight (170 Pound) Bout: Avaz Achilov Malik Blake
140 Pound Bout: Omar Ahmed vs. Niko Tsigaris
The top three GLORY 55 preliminary bouts will stream live on the GLORY YouTube channel, as well as the GLORY Facebook page, and Pluto TV channel 215 on Friday, July 20, with an expected start time of 5:50 p.m. ET / 2:50 p.m. PT.
Then, former welterweight champion Cédric “The Best” Doumbé (69-6-1, 40 KO, fighting out of France) squares off against Alan “Superboy” Scheinson (51-6, 37 KO, fighting out of Argentina) in the GLORY 55 SuperFight Series headline bout.
The seven-fight GLORY 55 SuperFight Series card can be found below:
GLORY 55 SuperFight Series
Welterweight Bout: Cédric Doumbé vs. Alan Scheinson
Heavyweight Bout: Junior Tafa vs. Anthony McDonald
Super Bantamweight Bout: Tiffany Van Soest vs. Sofia Olofsson
Lightweight Bout: Itay Gershon vs. Trevor Ragin
Featherweight Bout: Asa Ten Pow vs. Justin Greskiewicz
Lightweight Bout: Chris Lukusa vs. PJ Sweda
Middleweight Bout: Joe Taylor vs. Jacob Rodriguez
GLORY 55 SuperFight Series will stream live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Friday, July 20.
Finally, GLORY 55 New York is headlined by middleweight champion Alex ‘Po Atan’ Pereira (27-6, 17 KO, fighting out of Brazil) defending his belt for the second time against No. 1 contender Yousri Belgaroui (24-4, 12 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands), while No. 2-ranked “The Professor” Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (159-36-2, 27 KO, fighting out of Thailand) faces No. 3-ranked Kevin Vannostrand (17-2, 12 KO, fighting out of the United States) for the interim featherweight title in the co-headline bout.
The five-fight GLORY 55 New York card can be found below:
GLORY 55 New York
Middleweight Title Bout: Alex Pereira (c) vs. Yousri Belgaroui
Interim Featherweight Title Bout: Kevin Vannostrand vs. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao
Featherweight Bout: Massaro Glunder vs. TBD
Lightweight Bout: Elvis Gashi vs. Nick Chasteen
Featherweight Bout: Victor Pinto vs. Nate Richardson
GLORY 55 New York will be carried:
Friday, July 20 at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT – Live on ESPNews
Sunday, July 22 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT – ESPN2 Replay
Sunday, Aug. 5 at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT – ESPN Deportes (Spanish-language broadcast)
Tickets for GLORY 55 New York and GLORY 55 SuperFight Series are on sale now and available for purchase at ticketmaster.com or the Madison Square Garden box office.
For more information about GLORY, visit glorykickboxing.com.