Glory No. 1 heavyweight contender Benjamin Adegbuyi likely earned himself another crack at current champion Rico Verhoeven by surviving a slow start and getting rocked in the second from a high kick. The Romanian stormed to life in the third and knocked Anderson “Braddock” Silva off his feet after drilling him with sinister inside low kick. It was a somewhat controversial call on referee Chris Wagner’s part as the decision cost Silva the win.
One of the most exciting heavyweights in the world was at his best as Catalin “The Carpathian Death” Morosanu swarmed the much taller Maurice Greene and knocked him out in the second. Morosanu was relentless with his offense as he continuously goaded the Minnesotan into close-quarters brawls throughout and his strategy paid off. Almost as soon as the second frame began, Morosanu again forced the larger man into a wild exchange and then floored him with a leaping left hook to the jaw. Greene barely beat the count and when he tried to tell referee Dave Smith that he was okay, he was too wobbly on his legs. The fight ended on the spot, just 23 seconds into the stanza.
Welterweight contender Murthel Groenhart took one step closer to landing a shot at the Glory title by dominating Thai veteran Thongchai Sitsongpeenong. It was a nasty fight from the start as both men fought hard in the clinch, but it was Groenhart’s boxing that proved to be the difference. “The Predator” rocked Sitsongpeenong badly in the closing seconds of the opening round and after the Thai fighter losing a point for excessive clinching in the second, the Dutch bomber closed it out in the third. Groenhart dropped Sitsongpeenong with a dizzying flurry of punches to the head early in the frame and finished him off seconds later by felling him again with a similar combo. Referee Paul Nichols counted Sitsongpeenong out as he tried climbing back to his feet, the end officially coming at the 1:45 mark.
Chicago-based Mexican Daniel Morales got that 800-pound gorilla off his back as he finally scored his first Glory win. Morales was a step ahead of Polish foe Pawel Jedrzejczyk as he tore into him with uppercuts on the inside and peppered him with punches and kicks on the outside. Though every round was as close as ever with terrific back-and-forth action, it was Morales’ better strike output and cleaner punches that were the difference. Morales won a unanimous decision via tallies of 30-27 (twice) and 29-28.
Niclas Larsen had been out of action for over three years due to a gruesome staph infection that nearly cost him his leg, but by watching him fight in the opening bout of the evening, one would never know. Larsen was elusive and effective against Poland’s Lukasz Plawecki as he picked him apart from the outside and out-brawled him on the inside. Plawecki had his legs wrecked by low kicks and his face was busted up from punches. The Dane showed no signs of rust and he won easily, landing a unanimous decision courtesy of scores of 30-27 across the board.