United Glory has announced a partial line-up for their next show, and there are some very interesting fights shaping up, particularly for kickboxing fans. The show will take place on March 23 in Moscow and will feature both MMA and kickboxing fights.
In the most notable development for MMA fans, Strikeforce Grand Prix semi-finalist Sergei Kharitonov is scheduled to compete, but it will be under K-1 rules. Kharitonov will face Mark Miller, the American fighter who returned from open heart surgery last year and took home the best kickboxing KO of 2011 in the process. Kharitonov has been off the radar since his GP loss to Josh Barnett, with his name not often coming up in the discussions of Strikeforce's future. With the Heavyweight division on its way out, and the Pride veteran now taking a fight that is not under the Zuffa banner, you have to wonder if he will be brought into the UFC at all, or simply released.
The big news for K-1 fans is the return of 4 time K-1 Grand Prix champion Semmy Schilt. Schilt has been completely MIA since his 2010 GP loss to Peter Aerts, and his absence has been notable in the Heavyweight kickboxing ranks. Particularly with Badr Hari's upcoming retirement, Schilt is a very welcome return. He'll be competing in a K-1 rules match against a yet to be determined opponent.
One final fight announced is Jerome Le Banner vs. Errol Zimmerman in what should be a fantastic slugfest.
United Glory is the promotional arm of Golden Glory gyms, home to many of these fighters and rumored part owner in the new K-1. They have produced shows in Europe before, but it's important to note that that are also notorious for not delivering the expected line-up. Last July they announced an October 2011 show featuring Kharitonov and Alistair Overeem that never happened, and in the past they have advertised many fighters who ultimately were not on the show, including Shinya Aoki and Paul Daley. I spoke to Miller who confirmed that his fight is indeed set, which is a good step, and their website indicates more information to come at the beginning of February. So a great start to the card so far - just be prepared for changes, and take it all with a massive grain of salt.
The current line-up:
K-1 Rules: Semmy Schilt vs. TBA
K-1 Rules: Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mark Miller
K-1 Rules: Jerome Le Banner vs. Errol Zimmerman
0 recs | 24 comments
.jpg){kind=link}
Any chance Spong could take up that TBA spot?
I was going to see when he last fought or was scheduled to fight next but Wikipedia decided to protest the smokescreen that is SOPA in the most annoying way possible.
menckenstein - January 18, 2012
I'd rather see Daniel Ghita take that spot
Ghita also fights tall and could take the fight to Semmy Schilt.
magnetic - January 18, 2012
Have you seen their 2009 fight? Good stuff. Ghita part 2 would be good, but this is a Golden Glory show, and they are designed in part to spotlight GG fighters, which Schilt is. Expect someone MUCH easier. Like, Mourad Bouzidi.
Fraser Coffeen - January 18, 2012
Poor Bouzidi
I agree with some of the other assessments in this thread, though: Semmy still has the size and the style, but I think his conditioning may be slipping a little. He had a dominant run in 2009, but in 2010 he didn’t look to be in the same shape. His opponents still couldn’t tackle his size, but you could see him getting outworked at times, especially against Hesdy Gerges, and Peter Aerts outworked him completely. Badr Hari could have obliterated him again with that kind of performance. Also, he spent 2011 doing movies, so it’s hard to tell where he stands at the moment.
magnetic - January 18, 2012
Spong is fighting on January 28 against Melvin Manhoef for It’s Showtime. Then he’s fighting Peter Aerts on June 30 for It’s Showtime.
Rian Scalia - January 18, 2012
Wait I thought Aerts retired?
menckenstein - January 18, 2012
Aerts vs. Spong is Aerts’s retirement fight. It’s not 100% officially announced yet, but seems like it’s a done deal.
Fraser Coffeen - January 18, 2012
That's a good fight to go out on
New blood (relatively speaking) vs the old guard
menckenstein - January 18, 2012
Agreed. Plus it fits with Aerts’s career that he doesn’t go out against some sort of hand selected can. He’s fought the best for 20 years – he should end against the best.
Fraser Coffeen - January 18, 2012
Sem Schilt is a beast!!!
chillnnsht - January 18, 2012
He was a beast, anyway
I’m going to be curious to see what kind of shape he’s in. After more than a year off, most 38-year-old athletes aren’t going to stay in prime condition.
MichaelDavidSmith - January 18, 2012
True
but conditioning was never his greatest asset. As long as he’s still really tall, he’ll be alright.
POW - January 18, 2012
I think his conditioning was a huge factor. Schilt was able to defeat the best in the world in 3 fights in a night on 4 separate occasions. He’s only lost a K-1 tournament once. You can’t get those kind of results without conditioning. What set him apart from other big guys like Choi was, in part, his ability to keep his output going and not fade as the fight progressed.
Fraser Coffeen - January 18, 2012
Maybe.
I think what set him apart was his ability to fight tall, rather than just being tall. Great jab and push/front kicks will do that for you. You make a point about his multi-fight nights, but he’s only fighting once this night. So I’d be surprised to see him fade at any point in a 3 round fight.
POW - January 18, 2012
Agreed. Reminds me a lot of when Pride closed and a number of their guys were stuck in limbo for awhile after it shut down. Many of the late era Pride heavy hitters – Arona, Gomi, Filho – saw their careers effectively ended by that down time. I hope the same doesn’t happen to Schilt, but I am worried. It already has happened to Aerts, and maybe Sefo. You could argue Badr Hari is in that boat too.
Fraser Coffeen - January 18, 2012
Well Hari is in that boat for his own reasons.
Ricardo Arguello - January 18, 2012
So I'm guessing Kharitonov isnt going to the UFC??
rscott94 - January 18, 2012 via mobile
old SF contracts allow them to fight else where...
RECE ROCK - January 18, 2012
I was just wondering
Because it looks like the UFC have picked up the heavyweights they wanted from SF pretty quickly
rscott94 - January 18, 2012 via mobile
They’d sign UFC deals, which would be exclusive. My guess is that the UFC didn’t pick him up.
Tim Burke - January 18, 2012
Thanks
rscott94 - January 18, 2012 via mobile
K1 is awesome, but its seriously like 8 fighters fighting eachother over and over
terzergoss - January 18, 2012
So it's like the NFL playoffs for the last decade
menckenstein - January 18, 2012
I know some people view that as a criticism of K-1
But I’ve always viewed that as one of its charms. I love the fact that we’ve gotten to see Schilt fight Aerts five times, and Le Banner four times, and Bonjasky three times, and Hari twice. In MMA and boxing there are so many dream matches that we never get to see. In K-1 if you have a dream fight between two guys you love watching, you’ve probably seen that dream fight multiple times.
MichaelDavidSmith - January 18, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Bloody Elbow to post a comment.