In one of the most anticipated rematches in Glory history, bitter rivals Joe Schilling and Jason Wilnis picked up from where they left off at Glory 24. The middleweights wasted little time in tearing into each other from the opening bell until the closing seconds and the featured bout of the Glory 30 SuperFight Series undercard was as close as they come.
Schilling complained to veteran referee Marcos Rosales that he slipped, but the call stood it and it was a crucial turning point in the scoring. After a few minutes of deliberation, one judge scored the battle a draw at 28-28 but that tally was offset by the other two officials who favored Wilnis (28-6-1, 7 KOs) 29-27 (twice). Many in attendance thought that Schilling (21-7, 12 KOs) should have won or at least had the fight go into a sudden victory round.
Lion Fight super bantamweight and featherweight champion Tiffany Van Soest was sensational in her Glory debut as she dominated last-minute replacement Esma Hasshass over three rounds to win a unanimous decision. “Time Bomb” floored her 18-year-old opponent with a crushing right hand to the face in the first, but the Moroccan-born Dutch fighter was able to climb back to her feet and clear her head.
Hasshass (9-3, 3 KOs) showed great resilience as she kept up with the popular American until the end, but Van Soest’s experience and skillset was too much to overcome. Van Soest won via tallies of 30-26 (thrice) to improve to 15-2-1 with 5 KOs; her win advances her to the semifinals of the inaugural Glory women’s super bantamweight tournament.
In other Glory 30 SuperFight Series action, UFC and Strikeforce veteran Guto Inocente (31-7, 17 KOs) bested fellow heavyweight Brian Douwes (41-19-2, 23 KOs) via unanimous decision; middleweight Mike Lemaire (18-3, 8 KOs) dropped Karl Roberson (0-3) in the first and coasted to a unanimous decision; and light heavyweight Manny Mancha (5-2, 4 KOs) toppled Warren Thompson (11-7-1, 3 KOs) over three rounds for a unanimous decision win.