DENVER – GLORY, the world’s premier kickboxing league, is bringing two championship fights to Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., for GLORY 44 Chicago and GLORY 44 SuperFight Series on Friday, Aug. 25.
After settling the score with Nieky Holzken at GLORY 42 Paris in June, reigning and defending GLORY welterweight world champion Cédric “The Best” Doumbé (67-4-1, 39 KO, fighting out of France) sets his sights on yet another rival in Murthel “The Predator” Groenhart (66-22-3, 38 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands).
Their grudge began when Doumbé, at the time a rising contender, defeated Groenhart in March of 2016. Bleeding into interviews and onto social media, the pair’s spirited back-and-forth will finally come to a head at GLORY 44 Chicago, with championship gold on the line.
Heading into the rematch, the 24-year-old Doumbé has won four fights in a row under the GLORY banner, including two victories over Nieky Holzken – widely considered kickboxing royalty – and is currently on a 12-fight winning streak overall.
Groenhart, currently ranked No. 1 at welterweight, is a veteran of GLORY and a staple of the championship level kickboxing scene for over a decade. His most recent victory also came at GLORY 42 Paris, grabbing headlines for his knockout of feared striker Harut Grigorian.
In a battle between Illinois natives, No. 8-ranked Richard “Maximus” Abraham (11-5, 4 KO, fighting out of the United States) and formidable Daniel “La Maquina” Morales (representing Mexico) look to ignite the hometown crowd as co-headliners at GLORY 44 Chicago.
The current fight card for GLORY 44 Chicago can be found below:
GLORY 44 Chicago
Welterweight Title Headline Bout: Cédric Doumbé vs. Murthel Groenhart
Welterweight Co-Headline Bout: Richard Abraham vs. Daniel Morales
Tiffany “Time Bomb” van Soest (17-2-1, 5 KO, fighting out of the United States) is set to make the first defense of her super bantamweight world title, taking on Muay Thai fighter Funda “Findik” Alkayiş (29-2, 12 KO, fighting out of Turkey), who challenges for the belt following a dominant decision over Vanessa De Waele last July at GLORY 32 SuperFight Series.
Van Soest splits her time between Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts, where she competes as a strawweight under the Invicta FC banner. Inside the ring, she has won seven in a row, including an unblemished 3-0 record since joining GLORY. She captured kickboxing gold in December at GLORY: COLLISION, successfully navigating the inaugural Women’s Super Bantamweight Grand Prix tournament. Inside the cage, she picked up her first professional victory in May, defeating Christine Ferea via unanimous decision to bring her MMA record to an even 1-1.
Cătălin “The Carpathian Death” Moroșanu (44-10, 26 KO, fighting out of Romania), who captured hearts and minds with his passion earlier this year at GLORY 38, will compete against a heavyweight opponent to be named later.
The current fight card for GLORY 44 SuperFight Series can be found below:
GLORY 44 Chicago
Super Bantamweight Title Headline Bout: Tiffany van Soest vs. Funda Alkayiş
Heavyweight Bout: Cătălin Moroșanu vs. TBD
Additional match-ups for GLORY 44 Chicago and GLORY 44 SuperFight Series will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets for GLORY 44 Chicago and GLORY 44 SuperFight Series are on sale now, available for online purchase at searscentre.com and at the Sears Centre Arena box office.
For more information about GLORY, visit glorykickboxing.com.