Sittichai Sitsongpeenong Stops Dylan Salvador to Retain Title at Glory 39 SuperFight Series
Reining Glory lightweight champion Sittichai Sitsongpeenong got the
better of rival Dylan Salvador in the Glory 39 SuperFight Series
undercard main event. The Thai star won their rubber match with a
sizzling fourth-round TKO after slowly breaking the Frenchman down.
Sittichai won their first meeting at Victory 2 in December 2014 but
Salvador exacted revenge at Kunlun Fight 24 five months later. On
Saturday, it was all Sittichai in emphatic fashion.
Sittichai (114-30-5, 31 KOs) fought a technical, tactical nip-and-tuck fight for the first three rounds of their encounter, but a wicked body assault in the fourth ended things. After raking Salvador (49-12-1, 21 KOs) to the legs and body early, Sittichai delivered a crushing knee to the solar plexus. As soon as it landed, Salvador grunted and doubled over in pain as he dropped to his knees. Salvador climbed back to his feet at the count of eight, but before referee John Axewood could ask if he was okay, the Nasser-K fighter spat his mouthpiece out, figuratively throwing in the towel. The end came officially at 2:58 of the fourth, allowing “The Killer Kid” to defend his title for the second time.
Marat Grigorian (49-10-2, 29 KOs) made a strong argument for
himself to get right back in line for a lightweight title match
with a terrific performance against Anton Petrov. Grigorian
pressured the Bulgarian from the start and raked his legs with
stinging low kicks repeatedly. From there, Grigorian unloaded
vicious combos of punches to the head and body, eventually dropping
Petrov (10-7, 3 KOs) in the second. Moments after the fight
resumed, a flurry of punches, capped off by a nasty low kick from
the Belgian knockout artist, forced Petrov to turn his back and
surrender. He was counted out in a corner as referee Paul Nichols
reached the 10-count, ending the fight officially at 1:45 of the
second.
Qinghao Meng made history as the first-ever Chinese fighter to step foot inside the Glory ring and his promotional debut was a success. Though France’s Killian Moulun (13-6-2, 5 KOs) landed several clean punches to the head, Meng’s swift kicks and timely countering was just enough for him to squeak past his fellow lightweight. Meng (12-2, 1 KO) was awarded a split decision via tallies of 30-27, 27-30, 29-28 (twice) and 29-27.
Armenian knockout machine Harut Grigorian was not pleased with his performance against Pavol Garaj, even though he dominated him from start to finish. Grigorian (44-10, 32 KOs) was relentless with his offense every step of the way, pounding on the Slovakian with punches to the head and body and kicks to the body and legs. However, Garaj (14-9) was a durable opponent and hung on for the full three rounds. Grigorian won the unanimous nod with a scoring margin of 30-27 across the board.
Lightweight contender Tyjani Beztati was sensational in opening the Glory 39 event as he tore through Sabri Ben Hania with relative ease. Beztati rocked Ben Hania early and often and dropped him three times in the contest. Per Glory regulations, the three-knockdown rule was in effect and once Ben Hania (5-2-1) was felled for the third time, the fight was called. The official time of the TKO came at 2:05 of the second, giving the Moroccan the win.
The featured heavyweight battle between Hesdy Gerges and Chi Lewis-Parry was cancelled at the last minute when Lewis-Parry fell ill hours before the event started.
Sittichai (114-30-5, 31 KOs) fought a technical, tactical nip-and-tuck fight for the first three rounds of their encounter, but a wicked body assault in the fourth ended things. After raking Salvador (49-12-1, 21 KOs) to the legs and body early, Sittichai delivered a crushing knee to the solar plexus. As soon as it landed, Salvador grunted and doubled over in pain as he dropped to his knees. Salvador climbed back to his feet at the count of eight, but before referee John Axewood could ask if he was okay, the Nasser-K fighter spat his mouthpiece out, figuratively throwing in the towel. The end came officially at 2:58 of the fourth, allowing “The Killer Kid” to defend his title for the second time.
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Qinghao Meng made history as the first-ever Chinese fighter to step foot inside the Glory ring and his promotional debut was a success. Though France’s Killian Moulun (13-6-2, 5 KOs) landed several clean punches to the head, Meng’s swift kicks and timely countering was just enough for him to squeak past his fellow lightweight. Meng (12-2, 1 KO) was awarded a split decision via tallies of 30-27, 27-30, 29-28 (twice) and 29-27.
Armenian knockout machine Harut Grigorian was not pleased with his performance against Pavol Garaj, even though he dominated him from start to finish. Grigorian (44-10, 32 KOs) was relentless with his offense every step of the way, pounding on the Slovakian with punches to the head and body and kicks to the body and legs. However, Garaj (14-9) was a durable opponent and hung on for the full three rounds. Grigorian won the unanimous nod with a scoring margin of 30-27 across the board.
Lightweight contender Tyjani Beztati was sensational in opening the Glory 39 event as he tore through Sabri Ben Hania with relative ease. Beztati rocked Ben Hania early and often and dropped him three times in the contest. Per Glory regulations, the three-knockdown rule was in effect and once Ben Hania (5-2-1) was felled for the third time, the fight was called. The official time of the TKO came at 2:05 of the second, giving the Moroccan the win.
The featured heavyweight battle between Hesdy Gerges and Chi Lewis-Parry was cancelled at the last minute when Lewis-Parry fell ill hours before the event started.
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