Simon Marcus Captures Middleweight Crown Via DQ in Bizarre Glory 27 Headliner

Artem Levin was his own worst enemy in his third meeting with Simon Marcus.

After receiving a second point deduction for excessive clinching by referee Al Wichgers in round three, Levin waved off the contest, relinquishing his middleweight crown to Marcus in the Glory 27 headliner at the Sears Center in Chicago on Friday night. Levin, who exited the ring before the final verdict was announced, was also deducted a point for repeated clinching in round two.

Levin was officially disqualified at the 2:56 mark of round three.

“I worked hard for this. I beat the man. He ran out the ring,” Marcus said. “There’s no bad blood with Levin. I said I”m the real champion. I came and I proved it tonight. And that’s where it lies.”

Definitive moments were limited in the clinch-marred affair, which was also an issue in the previous meeting between the two fighters at Glory 21 last May. While that bout ended in a draw, Levin was unable to contain his frustration despite having two rounds remaining in the title contest.

The chippy affair began to take a turn for the worse following the Wichgers’ initial point deduction. Levin went to a corner and tried to wave off the fight then, but Marcus wasn’t having it, as he rushed his opponent and attacked him from behind. The bout continued from there, but neither fighter was able to find a consistent rhythm before Levin called it quits in the third.

It was Marcus’ second triumph over the Russian; he also edged Levin via split decision at a Lion Fight event in 2013.

Meanwhile, Dustin Jacoby just seems to thrive in Glory’s tournament format. The UFC and Bellator MMA veteran captured his third bracket within the kickboxing promotion, stopping Wayne Barrett via technical knockout 66 seconds into the second stanza. By winning Glory’s middleweight contender tournament, Jacoby will get a shot at Marcus at a future date.

“I felt extremely confident coming into this tournament….This feels great man. I’m on top of the world,” Jacoby said.

“As much as I like the tournaments, I’m over them. I want that title shot.”

Jacoby appeared to be losing the first round until he staggered Barrett with a left hook-right hand combo late in the period. Barrett kept his feet momentarily before dropping to a knee. Jacoby put the tournament’s two-knockdown TKO rule into effect early in the second frame, as he put Barrett down again with a solid right hand over the top of his left jab.

Jacoby and Barrett advanced to the final via different, yet effective methods.

Cruising on the scorecards after two rounds, Jacoby finished with a flourish against Karl Roberson in the third frame to put an exclamation point on his middleweight semifinal triumph. A knee to the face sent Roberson to the canvas for the second time in the stanza, resulting in a TKO win for Jacoby at the 2:56 mark.

Early on, Jacoby racked up points behind a multi-faceted striking arsenal, and Roberson struggled to pull the trigger to match his foe’s volume. Jacoby sent his man to the floor for the first time in round three with a clean two-punch combination with less than a minute remaining. Moments later, he connected with the aforementioned knee to seal his victory.

Earlier, Barrett punched his ticket to the middleweight final with a three-round verdict over Canadian Robert Thomas. All three judges submitted 30-27 scorecards in favor of Barrett.

Barrett, relying on solid movement and footwork, consistently initiated offense, landing solid combinations throughout the bout. His right hand was particularly effective, and he connected with some of his hardest punches in the second stanza. Thomas did his best to fight with a sense of urgency in round three, but he wasn’t able seriously threaten his adversary.

Elsewhere, Giga Chikadze held off a hard-charging Kevin Vannostrand to capture a unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) in a featured featherweight bout. Both men threw caution to the wind from the opening bell and maintained that frenetic pace for the majority of the contest, but it was Chikadze’s versatile attack that ultimately got the nod.

Vannostrand consistently rushed his foe in almost reckless fashion, but Chikadze was able to counter with right hooks and hard kicks to the body. The American briefly stunned Chikadze with a spinning-back fist in round two, but Chikadze rallied late in the period, as he battered Vannostrand with blows to the body, including a kick that appeared to hurt his opponent late in the frame. Chikadze maintained control in round three behind more body work and stinging leg kicks.

Short notice was no issue for Joe Schilling in the Glory 27 Superfight Series main event, as he took a unanimous decision over Mike Lemaire in a middleweight tilt. All three ringside judges scored the contest 30-27 in favor of “Stitch ‘Em Up,” who took the fight on approximately 12 days’ notice.

Lemaire hung tough throughout, but it was Schilling who usually pushed the pace and dictated the terms of the action. The three-time Bellator MMA veteran had success landing front kicks at range and attacked with punching combinations and uppercuts in close quarters. Schilling bloodied his opponent’s nose during a flurry in the second stanza and finished the third period strong despite displaying visible signs of fatigue.

In earlier action: Brutal leg kicks carried Anderson “Braddock” Silva to an easy unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25) over Maurice Green in a heavyweight scrap; Carlos Augusto Inocente Filho flattened Demoreo Dennis with a spectacular spinning hook kick to win their heavyweight contest via knockout 40 seconds into round one; Richard Abraham knocked down Pawel Jedrzejczyk in the first frame en route to winning an overwhelming unanimous verdict (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) at 170 pounds; and Casey Greene ruined the professional kickboxing debut of Daniel Morales, taking a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in a welterweight contest.