Glory (kickboxing)


Glory, formerly Glory World Series, is an international kickboxing promotion company founded in 2012 by Glory Sports International Pte Ltd. partners Pierre Andurand, Scott Rudmann, and Total Sports Asia. The company has its headquarters in Singapore and international offices in Denver, United States, and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Background

When K-1 began suffering from extreme financial difficulties in 2011, Total Sports Asia, TSA CEO Marcus Luer, London-based French investor Pierre Andurand, and Scott Rudmann of Nectar Capital attempted to buy the brand. K-1 was instead sold to Gunil "Mike" Kim and EMCOM Entertainment Inc. In the aftermath, Pierre Andurand, TSA, and the other investors decided to start a brand new kickboxing promotion and acquired United Glory, Golden Glory, and It's Showtime to secure a top event production team and contracts to each promotion's top fighters. Forming the Glory World Series, Pierre Andurand was named Chairman and Scott Rudmann was named vice-chairman.
The name "Glory" has caused some confusion to arise as to Golden Glory's role with the new organization. It was since made clear that Golden Glory and It's Showtime were bought and absorbed. A number of people formerly involved with It's Showtime, the Golden Glory team and the United Glory event became Glory consultants, though Simon Rutz, the founder and former owner of It's Showtime, has departed the company.
GSI signed most of the world's top kickboxers such as Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Semmy Schilt, Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghiţă, Albert Kraus, Giorgio Petrosyan, and Yoshihiro Sato.

Business

Glory Sports International has its offices in the Netherlands, Malaysia, Singapore, and the US. The company includes a mix of entrepreneurs and senior level executives from the worlds of finance, sports marketing, television, technology, and martial arts fighting. The company's investors include Yao Capital, the investment arm of former Chinese basketball player Yao Ming, cable TV company Liberty Global, and TwinFocus Capital Partners of Boston.
In February 2013, Glory announced that former WWE Executive VP Andrew Whitaker had been hired as the global CEO of Glory Sports International. In 2018, Glory announced that former CEO of Glory Sports International, Jon J. Franklin had moved to the role of Chief Development Officer, and former UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik had been hired as the new CEO.
On May 15, 2020, Glory announced Zelaznik had resigned as Glory CEO.
On May 26, 2020, Glory Sports International went into receivership.

Media coverage

In June 2013, after having its first U.S. event in New York, on June 22, 2013, Spike TV signed a multi-year agreement to broadcast Glory kickboxing events. The broadcast deal with Spike TV was extended in May 2014 to cover 2015. In February 2016, Glory CEO Jon J. Franklin announced a new multi-year deal with ESPN. Beginning in 2019, Glory initiated a partnership with the UFC for the former's events to be exclusively carried in the U.S by UFC Fight Pass.

Events

Champions

Current champions

Glory Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: Unlimited

Glory Light Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit:

Glory Middleweight Championship

Weight limit:
No.NameEventDateDefenses
Current Alex Pereira
Guangzhou, China.png" />		October 14, 2017
1. def. Yousri Belgaroui at on December 9, 2017 in Rotterdam, Netherlands

2. def. Yousri Belgaroui at on July 20, 2018 in New York City, New York, USA

3. def. Simon Marcus at on September 14, 2018 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

4. def. Jason Wilnis at on May 17, 2019 in Utrecht, Netherlands

5. def. Ertugrul Bayrak at Glory 74: Arnhem on Dec 21, 2019 in Arnhem, Netherlands
4 Simon Marcus
Copenhagen, Denmark.png" />		April 29, 2017
3 Jason Wilnis
September 9, 2016
1. def. Israel Adesanya at on January 20, 2017 in Los Angeles, USA
2 Simon Marcus
Hoffman Estates, USA.png" />		February 26, 2016
1. def. Dustin Jacoby at on May 13, 2016 in Ontario, USA
1 Artem Levin
def. Joe Schilling		 ''
June 21, 2014
1. draw with Simon Marcus at on May 8, 2015 in San Diego, USA

Glory Welterweight Championship

Weight limit:

Glory Lightweight Championship

Weight limit:
No.NameEventDateDefenses
Current Marat Grigorian
May 17, 20191. def. Tyjani Beztati at on October 12, 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany
2. def. Elvis Gashi at on December 7, 2019 in Shenzhen, China
3 Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong
June 25, 2016
1. def. Marat Grigorian at on December 10, 2016 in Oberhausen, Germany

2. def. Dylan Salvador at on March 25, 2017 in Brussels, Belgium

3. def. Christian Baya at on February 16, 2018 in Chicago, United States

4. def. Tyjani Beztati at on May 12, 2018 in Lille, France
5. def. Marat Grigorian at on August 25, 2018 in Shenzhen, China

6. def. Josh Jauncey at on November 2, 2018 in New York City, United States
2 Robin van Roosmalen
Oklahoma City, USA.png" />		November 7, 2014
1. def. Andy Ristie at on Apr 3, 2015 in Dubai, UAE

2. def. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong at on November 6, 2015 in Monza, Italy
1 Davit Kiria
def. Andy Ristie		 ''
March 8, 2014

Glory Featherweight Championship

Weight limit:

Glory Women's Bantamweight Championship

Weight limit:
No.NameEventDateDefenses
Current Tiffany van Soest
November 22, 2019
4 Anissa Meksen
November 2, 20181. def. Tiffany van Soest at on March 9, 2019 in Strasbourg, France
2. def. Sofia Olofsson at on June 22, 2019 in Paris, France
3 Jady Menezes
August 10, 2018
2 Anissa Meksen
December 1, 20171. def. Amel Dehby at on May 12, 2018 in Lille, France
1 Tiffany van Soest
def. Amel Dehby
December 10, 2016
1. def. Meryem Uslu at on August 25, 2017 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

Tournament champions

Contender Tournament champions

Qualification Tournament winners

Road to Glory Tournament champions

Notable fighters

Featherweight