Holzken-Groenhart 3 to Headline Glory 34 on Oct. 21
Glory welterweight champion Nieky Holzken will put his title on the
line against an old rival next month.
Glory announced on Wednesday that Holzken (89-11, 46 KOs) will defend his crown against fellow Dutchman Murthel Groenhart in the new main event of Glory 34: Denver on Oct. 21. The two have a settle to score with one another to see who is better. The two have met twice previously with “The Natural” coming out on top both time as Holzken edged his foe by the thinnest of margins on both occasions.
Back in October 2010, Holzken was extended into a bonus round on a
United Glory 12 card and took home the decision. They met five
years later at Glory 26 last December and again, Holzken eked by
with a split decision. Holzken was already the Glory champ at the
time and defended it again in April when he toppled Yoann Kongolo
via decision at Glory 29. Holzken has won 10 in a row and intends
on going up 3-0 on his Dutch rival.
Groenhart (60-20-3, 34 KOs), who is originally from Suriname, has been much more active than the champ since they last fought. While Holzken only fought once, “The Predator” has entered the ring seven times and has won three consecutive bouts, two via knockout. Groenhart won the same-night welterweight tournament at Glory 31 where he stopped Karim Benmansour and then edged Kongolo via decision. He followed that triumph up with a TKO of Jonatan Oliveira at Kunlun Fight 50 in August.
Glory 34 will take place at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colo., just outside Denver and will also feature local fighter Dustin Jacoby (9-7, 7 KOs) facing an opponent to be named shortly in the co-feature while a four-man same-night Middleweight Contender Tournament featuring Israel Adesanya (63-3, 27 KOs), Alex Pereira (20-4, 11 KOs), Robert Thomas (8-4, 5 KOs) and Yousri Belgaroui (19-2, 10 KOs) will round out the Glory 34 main card.
The original Glory 34 main event between newly-crowned featherweight champion Gabriel Varga (28-3, 8 KOs) as he makes his first defense against former lightweight champ Robin Van Roosmalen (35-7, 19 KOs) will now serve as the headliner of the Glory 34 SuperFight Series undercard.
Capping off the SuperFight Series undercard will be a welterweight between Casey Greene (5-6, 2 KOs) and Tongchai Sitsongpeenong (134-32) while fellow welters Richard Abraham (10-3, 4 KOs) and Michael Mathatha will collide. A light heavyweight battle between Saulo Cavalari (59-4, 49 KOs) and Brian Douwes (41-19-2, 23 KOs) will also be featured while featherweights Justin Houghton and Jonathon Wyderko will lock horns.
GLORY 34 Denver airs live on ESPN3 at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT. GLORY 34 SuperFight Series, meanwhile, will stream live on UFC Fight Pass at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT.
Glory announced on Wednesday that Holzken (89-11, 46 KOs) will defend his crown against fellow Dutchman Murthel Groenhart in the new main event of Glory 34: Denver on Oct. 21. The two have a settle to score with one another to see who is better. The two have met twice previously with “The Natural” coming out on top both time as Holzken edged his foe by the thinnest of margins on both occasions.
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Groenhart (60-20-3, 34 KOs), who is originally from Suriname, has been much more active than the champ since they last fought. While Holzken only fought once, “The Predator” has entered the ring seven times and has won three consecutive bouts, two via knockout. Groenhart won the same-night welterweight tournament at Glory 31 where he stopped Karim Benmansour and then edged Kongolo via decision. He followed that triumph up with a TKO of Jonatan Oliveira at Kunlun Fight 50 in August.
Glory 34 will take place at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colo., just outside Denver and will also feature local fighter Dustin Jacoby (9-7, 7 KOs) facing an opponent to be named shortly in the co-feature while a four-man same-night Middleweight Contender Tournament featuring Israel Adesanya (63-3, 27 KOs), Alex Pereira (20-4, 11 KOs), Robert Thomas (8-4, 5 KOs) and Yousri Belgaroui (19-2, 10 KOs) will round out the Glory 34 main card.
The original Glory 34 main event between newly-crowned featherweight champion Gabriel Varga (28-3, 8 KOs) as he makes his first defense against former lightweight champ Robin Van Roosmalen (35-7, 19 KOs) will now serve as the headliner of the Glory 34 SuperFight Series undercard.
Capping off the SuperFight Series undercard will be a welterweight between Casey Greene (5-6, 2 KOs) and Tongchai Sitsongpeenong (134-32) while fellow welters Richard Abraham (10-3, 4 KOs) and Michael Mathatha will collide. A light heavyweight battle between Saulo Cavalari (59-4, 49 KOs) and Brian Douwes (41-19-2, 23 KOs) will also be featured while featherweights Justin Houghton and Jonathon Wyderko will lock horns.
GLORY 34 Denver airs live on ESPN3 at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT. GLORY 34 SuperFight Series, meanwhile, will stream live on UFC Fight Pass at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT.
