On Friday, Feb. 24, GLORY kickboxing returned to The Windy City for GLORY 38: Chicago.
In the night’s main event, light heavyweight titleholder Artem Vakhitov put his belt on the line against No. 1 contender and former champion Saulo Cavalari. The pair had met twice previously with Cavalari edging Vakhitov by split decision at GLORY 20 and Vakhitov outlasting Cavalari at GLORY 28 to capture the title. Since then, Russia’s Vakhitov has defended the belt against Zack Mwekassa and Brazil’s Cavalari has topped Brian Douwes to set up the rubber match.
Also on the night’s main card, a one-night, four-man light heavyweight contender tournament featured France’s Zinedine Hameur-Lain against Brian Collette in one side of the bracket, while Danyo Ilunga looked to bounce back from his “Fight of the Year” battle with Michael Duut as he took on Brazil’s Ariel Machado on the other side of the bracket.
In the SuperFight Series, former heavyweight title challengers Benjamin Adegbuyi and Anderson Silva locked horns, Romania’s Cătălin Moroșanu made his promotional debut against Maurice Greene, and Murthel Groenhart clashed with Thailand’s Thongchai.
GLORY 38 took place from Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The main card aired live on ESPN3 at 10:30 p.m. ET. The SuperFight Series streamed live on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. ET.
Ariel Machado def. Zinedine Hameur-Lain by TKO (left hook to body). Round 1, 2:43 – light heavyweight tournament final
Antoine Pinto def. Richard Abraham via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ariel Machado def. Danyo Ilunga via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27 ) – light heavyweight tournament semifinal
Zinedine Hameur-Lain def. Brian Collette by KO (punch). Round 2, 2:46 – light heavyweight tournament semifinal
Benjamin Adegbuyi def. Anderson “Braddock” Silva via unanimous decision (39-35, 38-36, 38-36 extension round)
Cătălin Moroșanu def. Maurice Greene by TKO (strikes). Round 2, 0:23
Murthel Groenhart def. Thongchai by TKO (strikes). Round 3, 1:45
Daniel Morales def. Pawel Jedrzejczyk by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Niclas Larsen def. Lukasz Plawecki by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)