United Glory World Series Finals a Success

If you only set aside time for UFC 130 this Memorial Day weekend, you missed out on a yet another high quality card from United Glory World Series. On May 28, the United Glory 2010-2011 World Series Finals were held in the Moscow Forum Hall in Moscow, Russia. This card was preceded by the Glory World Series Semifinals, which was held on March 19th in Charleroi, Belgium and round one of the event which was held in Amsterdam, Holland Oct. 16^th, 2010.

The World Series XIV Finals were put together by the United Glory organization and the Golden Glory Gym arm in Russia. The United Glory World Series is a unique event as it is the only blended fight event including both MMA and Kickboxing (K-1 rules) fights. The series was composed of two tournaments one for MMA and one for Kickboxing with the winner of each tourney taking home a $150,000 prize. The fights are mixed together alternating between MMA and KB making the show very exciting. Overall the show is a black tie event for fans, combined with dinner as well as professional dancing (ring girls) between bouts.

The card was broadcast live online through a pay-per-view stream on YouTube, which was organized in cooperation by FightGame TV (www.fightgametv.com) and YouTube (www.youtube.com). This was the first ever YouTube MMA pay-per-view event and was broadcast on www.youtube.com/fightgametv. Originally it was planned that the online broadcast would be worldwide live stream. However, due to problems securing clearances in different countries the PPV was only broadcast in the USA. Glory World Series has promised its fan base that the next event will be available online worldwide. Total price for the event was very low at $7.95 for the entire fight card. Live chat for fans was available throughout the stream.

If you missed the online stream you can still watch fights individually or as a whole at http://www.youtube.com/fightgametv#p/u/0/LJAfY4lOcLU. The entire event can be viewed for $7.99 or individual fights of your choice for $0.99.

The online stream got off to a rocky start due to the original commentators being held up at the border due to visa issues. FightGameTV was present throughout the live stream in live chat and responding to fan requests. Once complaints were received about the original commentators FightGameTV reacted very quickly and they were replaced making online fans were satisfied with the high quality of customer service and request response. The overall quality of the live stream was very good with good response from fans.

The card had thirteen fights total consisting of one pre-fight bout, ten main card fights called super fights and the two finals fights for the MMA and Kick Boxing tourneys. Overall the show was very high action packed as only three fights on the card went to a decision. All of the fighters performed extremely well, very aggressive and actions packed, to the satisfaction of the fans and there were no fights that dragged or stalled. Overall this was a high-class event with a great display of athleticism, professionalism and showmanship on the part of the fighters.

Notable Fights:

The most notable and KO of the night was the HW Kick Boxing fight between Mark “the Fightshark” Miller (15-6-1), USA and Nicolaj Filan (30-9-0), Germany. Mark Miller stole the show by coming out and winning by 1^st round KO only 3 seconds into the fight knocking out Filan cold. Miller’s story is unique in that he is the first open heart surgery patient to come back to the ring as a professional fighter. Mark had to undergo an aortic valve replacement surgery and also had to deal with family tragedy before returning to the ring. Miller has an endearing personality, which gives him a loyal fan base very supportive of him and he definitely delivered for fight fans with this stellar and most impressive comeback against a top rated kick boxer who was heavily favored to win this fight. Follow him on twitter @fightshark_com.

Fight of the night:

The fight of the night has to go to the WW MMA Tournament title bout between Siyar Bahadurzada (20-4-1), Afghanistan/Holland vs Tommy Depret (9-4), Belgium. These two fighters are Golden Glory teammates and as predicted by other Golden Glory team members the fight was an action packed, absolute battle. They have similar styles and it was clear both that both had come prepared and hungry for a win. Tommy Depret, a father of three, has gone through a personal family tragedy in the death of his wife just before the tournament began in October 2010. Siyar Bahadurzada, grew up in the war torn country of Afghanistan until his family moved to Holland in 1999 when he was 15 years old.

Both fighters proved they have great heart during this fight. For most of round one and two Depret was under constant attack by Bahadurzada, who was the more aggressive fighter and landed more and better shots. During round one Depret was able to take Bahadurzada down attempting a submission but in a great show of skill and ground game improvement Bahadurzada was able to escape to stand back up. Bahadurzada put Depret on the defensive for the rest of the round and during the next round. Depret withstood some very harsh punishment longer than expected until the referee stepped in stopping the fight. Bahadurzada defeated Depret by 2^nd round TKO (knees and punches), taking the United Glory WW title. Bahadurzada sustained an injury to his hand from the fight. Even though Depret lost the fight his conduct that night surely won him some new fans. Not very well-known in the USA yet, Bahadurzada has established a name for himself in Europe. In addition to his new WW title he is also a three-time LHW Shooto Champion. His last Shooto defense was in 2010 in which he retained his title via KO in the first, he is on a 6 fight winning streak with five of those wins coming via KO or TKO.

Gokhan Saki vs Brice Guidon (KB): Gokhan “The Rebel” Saki (75-15-1), Turkey, Holland took the KB HW Tournament Title over Brice Guidon (26-6-0), France via Decision. Saki was able to out skill and outmaneuver the taller and heavier Frenchman in all three rounds. In round one Saki was more aggressive, had better shots and used many low kicks and more combos. He landed more shots as well. Guidon was more on the defense and even the round was close Saki was more dominant. In the second round two left hooks delivered by Saki got Guidon in trouble and one left hook got Guidon knocked down. This round also went to Saki. In round three the pace picked up and Guidon became more aggressive but it was still not enough to dominate Saki. Saki got advantage in this round as well winning the decision and the title. Saki who is considered one of the top kickboxers in the world has developed a beautiful style and is known for his speed and effective technique. He has made quite a name for himself and his style has won him over a loyal fan base. After his win of the title there was a celebration in the ring by Saki, his teammates and supporters.

Sergei Kharitonov vs Mighty Mo (KB): The fight between Sergei Kharitonov (20-6), Russia and Mighty Mo (19-15), USA was one of the most anticipated fights of the night. Kharitonov, who is a Strikeforce HW Grand Prix tourney semi finalist in MMA went to KB for the night to fight Mighty Mo. This was a short fight but an impressive KO by Kharitonov. Both of these fighters yield a lot of power to beware of. After Kharitonov avoided some punches from Mighty Mo he was able to catch him with an uppercut in the first round winning him the fight. An impressive KO.

Overall this event went very well for the promotion and the fight fans. Reactions from fans watching the event online was that it was very high quality event for a very low price. FightGameTV received some kudos for their online support and response to requests and fans commented that if the live streams are set up again they would be purchasing again. Hopefully the next event will be able to be streamed live worldwide so more fans can enjoy this action packed show. A great job by United Glory, Golden Glory Russia, FightGameTV and YouTube.

Tags: BRICE GUIDON, DION STARING, ERROL ZIMMERMAN, Gokhan Saki, Mark Miller, MIGHTY MO, MMA, Sergei Kharitonov, Siyar Bahadurzada, siyar the great, siyar the killer, TOMMY DEPRET, United glory, United Glory World Series

Category: Events, MMA, Opinion, Reviews