GLORY 48 New York has taken shape with the addition of six-year UFC veteran Thiago Silva and three of the four middleweights set to do battle in a one-night qualifying tournament at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Dec. 1.
Silva, who will debut at light heavyweight, earned a reputation during his MMA tenure for carrying massive power, with 13 of 19 career victories ending via knockout.
GLORY 48 New York will also feature a one-night, four-man middleweight qualifying tournament. The qualifying tournament winner will be granted entry into an upcoming middleweight contender tournament – a system in place to determine GLORY’s future title challengers.
In the first of two tournament semifinal match-ups, GLORY veteran Wayne Barrett (6-5, 4 KO, fighting out of the United States), who cut his teeth on the New York fight scene, returns to the GLORY ring for the first time in nearly two years. His opponent will be No. 7-ranked middleweight Robert Thomas (8-5, 5 KO, fighting out of Canada), who most recently earned ‘Knockout of the Night’ honors at GLORY 44 SuperFight Series in August. The pair of fighters have met once before, with Barrett edging Thomas by decision at GLORY 27 Chicago.
Mike “The French Rock” Lemaire (18-4, 8 KO, fighting out of the United States) will serve as one half of the other tournament semifinal match-up, with his opponent – the fourth and final tournament entrant – to be announced shortly. Should Lemaire advance to the tournament final round, he will seek revenge against either Barrett or Thomas, who each hold a win over the Muay Thai practitioner.
The previously announced featherweight title tilt between champion Robin van Roosmalen and challenger Kevin VanNostrand (16-1, 11 KO, fighting out of the United States) has been put on hold, as Van Roosmalen recovers from an eye injury. VanNostrand will remain on the card and meet the winner of this Saturday’s featherweight contender tournament for the interim featherweight belt in New York. The tournament entrants vying for this interim title opportunity at GLORY 47 Lyon are Fabio Pinca, Anvar Boynazarov, Azize Hlali, and Abdellah Ezbiri.
The current fight card for GLORY 48 New York can be found below:
GLORY 48 New York
Interim Featherweight Title Headline Bout: Kevin VanNostrand vs. TBD
Middleweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Light Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout: Thiago Silva vs. TBA
Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: Robert Thomas vs. Wayne Barrett
Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Mike Lemaire vs. TBA
GLORY 48 SuperFight Series, the five-fight card taking place ahead of GLORY 48 New York, will feature the debut of recent roster addition Chris Camozzi and another appearance for New York’s own “Super” Elvis Gashi (19-0, 10 KO, fighting out of the United States), who stole the show by upsetting Josh Jauncey during the organization’s last visit to The Big Apple.
With nearly 15 years of striking experience, the 30-year-old veteran Camozzi will face middleweight Kyle “Wicked” Weickhardt (8-1, 6 KO, fighting out of the United States), while Gashi squares off against WAKO Team USA athlete Nate “The Natural” Richardson (11-2, 5 KO, fighting out of the United States) at lightweight. Born in Kosovo, Gashi compiled a 107-3 amateur record and left home for the United States in 2012 to pursue his dream as a top-level fighter.
Also contested at lightweight, Itay Gershon (14-4, 5 KO, fighting out of Israel) returns following a successful debut at GLORY 43 SuperFight Series, taking on Justin “J-Ho” Houghton (2-1, fighting out of the United States).
GLORY 48 SuperFight Series is headlined by super bantamweight world champion and MMA fighter Tiffany “Time Bomb” van Soest (18-2-1, 6 KO, fighting out of the United States), looking to ride the momentum of August’s knockout victory into her next bout against a top-ranked challenger. Like VanNostrand, her opponent will be determined this Saturday, when France’s Anissa Meksen, ranked No. 3, goes toe-to-toe with Turkey’s Funda Alkayiş, ranked No. 8. The winner will face Van Soest in New York.
The current fight card for GLORY 48 SuperFight Series can be found below:
GLORY 48 SuperFight Series
Super Bantamweight Title Headline Bout: Tiffany van Soest vs. TBD
Middleweight Bout: Chris Camozzi vs. Kyle Weickhardt
Lightweight Bout: Itay Gershon vs. Justin Houghton
Lightweight Bout: Elvis Gashi vs. Nate Richardson
One additional bout is expected to be added to GLORY 48 SuperFight Series.
GLORY 48 SuperFight Series will stream live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday, Dec. 1.
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