GLORY Kickboxing made the promotion’s inaugural journey to China, on Saturday, Oct. 14, for GLORY 46: China.
The GLORY middleweight title is on the line when champion Simon Marcus attempted to defend the title for the first time against Brazilian challenger Alex Pereira. Marcus reclaimed the middleweight crown with a close victory in the rubber match with Jason Wilnis at GLORY 40. Pereira knocked out Maycon Silva in the second frame to defend his WGP Kickboxing 85-kilogram title outside of the promotion in August.
In the night’s SuperFight Series headliner, GLORY heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven took on former UFC title challenger Antônio “Bigfoot” Silva in a non-title affair. Verhoeven had won 13 straight fights in GLORY with his lone defeat in that span coming outside of the promotion against Andrey Gerasimchuk at Kunlun Fight 15, the last time Verhoeven competed in China. Silva made his kickboxing debut as a heavy underdog.
In the night’s featherweight contender tournament, Chinese GLORY veterans Chenchen Li and Chenglong Zhang returned in their home country against Japan’s Masaya Kubo and New Zealand’s Quade Taranaki, respectively.
GLORY featured a professional Sanda bout between highly touted Chinese fighter Hongxing Kong and prospect Yang Sun. The more experienced fighter, Kong, holds a victory over one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters of all-time, Saenchai.
Elsewhere on the card, top-10 featherweight Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao defeated China’s Lei Xie, Shanghai Gao met short notice replacement Alan Scheinson, and lightweight Qinghao Meng fought German Pascal Schroth.
The GLORY 46 SuperFight Series aired live at 6 a.m. ET on UFC Fight Pass. The main card aired live at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN3, Fox Sports Africa, Fight Network (Canada), OSN Sports (Middle East), Sky (New Zealand), and GLORY pay-per-view (International). The event airs via tape delay at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 15, on ESPN2.
Chenglong Zhang def. Masaya Kubo by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26, 30-26, 30-26, 30-26) – featherweight tournament final
Junior Tafa def. Quanchao Luo by TKO (referee stoppage). Round 1, 1:34
Chenglong Zhang def. Quade Taranaki by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27) – featherweight tournament semifinal
Masaya Kubo def. Chenchen Li by knockout (left head kick). Round 1, 2:50 – featherweight tournament semifinal
Rico Verhoeven def. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva by TKO (referee stoppage). Round 2, 0:47
Wei Zhou def. Andre Walker by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alan Scheinson def. Shanghai Gao by majority decision (27-29, 30-26, 28-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Sanda: Hongxing Kong def. Yang Sun by knockout (left head kick). Round 1, 0:35
Jia Liu vs. Zaza Sor. Aree ends in no contest (cut on Liu from an illegal elbow strike)
Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao def. Lei Xie by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Pascal Schroth def. Qinghao Meng by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27)