Glory 9 New York is Saturday, June 22nd live from the historic Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan. The event within the event is the Light Heavyweight Slam Tournament. Eight of the best 95kg/209lb stand up fighters in the world will fight to become the first-ever Title holder, and win a beautiful Championship Belt and a large check from Glory Sports International. Past Slam winners have won between $100,300 and $400,000 USD and with the talent level and world renowned field the purse will sure to be a hefty one.

This week we will take you through the four quarterfinal match ups that begin the Glory Grand Slam. Today we examine ‘The King of the Ring’ Tyrone Spong versus Michael Duut.

Tyrone Spong (69-6-1 43 KOs) is one of the most famous fighters in all of combat sports today. As a kickboxer, he has been a World Champion on several occasions and beaten some of the best the sport has to offer. He also recently made his debut in Mixed Martial Arts, decimating his opponent with a first round knock out. He is another Heavyweight making the move to the 95kg/209lb division of Glory, for this tournament and it looks like his permanent home. Nearly one year ago, Spong defeated Grand Prix Legend and current Glory Heavyweight, Peter Aerts by KO at It’s Showtime 57&58.  His first fight in the promotion was at Glory 5 London and in the Main Event he faced Remy ‘The Flying Gentleman’ Bonjasky. It was in the second round when Spong began scoring over and over with flying knees, kicks and punches when he overwhelmed Bonjasky and knocked him out with a massive punch.

Spong is the tournament favorite, with his ability to go toe-to-toe with heavyweights and Championship experience as a Light Heavyweight, its easy to see why.

Michael Duut (38-3, 17 KOs) is another one of the up-and-comers in Glory and has been quite successful as of late. He has wins over two of this tournament’s competitors, Dustin Jacoby and Steve McKinnon. At Glory 5 London Duut was called in to welcome the newest member of the Glory World Series, Dustin Jacoby. He earned a one year contract with GSI by winning the Road to Glory tournament in Tulsa, OK. Duut handled Jacoby like one would expect a seasoned pro to do against a man in only his fourth kickboxing fight ever. The win by TKO for Duut is what got him called upon again, this time to face McKinnon at Glory 7 Milan. The fight went the distance and after what many thought would be a win for McKinnon was a judges’ decision for Duut.

Duut is a solid fighter, good with his technical striking and is hard to knock down. His last two fights were taken on short notice and he won them both.

When its all said and done, the fight should belong to Spong, he’s more experienced, in better condition and has beaten a much higher caliber opponent than Duut. It is a fight and anything can happen, but look for a first round KO from Tyrone Spong.

Check out the latest GLORY Exclusive Video on ‘The King of the Ring’ Tyrone Spong:

UFC 162 sees the return of Anderson Silva in a fight that pits him against rising contender Chris Weidman. Check out the middleweight champion’s thoughts on the upcoming fight:

The inaugural UFC event on Fox Sports 1 has been made official and it is a stacked card.

Chael Sonnen (28-13-1) and former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua (21-7) will headline the event which goes down at the TD Garden in Boston on August 17th. UFC on Fox Sports 1 as a channel debuts on that day and with it now being the home of a lot of UFC coverage in the future, the UFC have put together one of the best free cards of all time.
“We’re finally coming back to Boston and we’re bringing the most stacked card in UFC history.” UFC President Dana White remarked. “In the main event  former UFC light heavyweight champion Shogun Rua takes on Chael Sonnen, who once again stepped up and asked for a big fight. Then we have Alistair Overeem vs Travis Browne in a heavyweight fight. Both of these guys have heavy hands, so I expect someone to get knocked out! The rest of the card is loaded with exciting fights, including Urijah Faber vs Yuri Alcantara, Matt Brown vs Thiago Alves, Boston’s Joe Lauzon vs Michael Johnson, Uriah Hall vs Nick Ring and Irish superstar Conor Mcgregor vs Andy Ogle. Boston, we’re coming back on August 17!”

The full fight card is below:

Chael Sonnen vs Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua
Alistair Overeem vs Travis Browne
Urijah Faber vs Yuri Alcantara
Matt Brown vs Thiago Alves
Uriah Hall vs Nick Ring
Joe Lauzon vs Michael Johnson
Brad Pickett vs Michael Mcdonald
Mike Brown vs Akira Corassani
Diego Brandao vs Daniel Pineda
Conor Mcgregor vs Andy Ogle
Ovince Saint Preux vs Cody Donovan
James Vick vs Ramsey Nijem
Manny Gamburyan vs Cole Miller

With UFC 162 fast approaching, check out one of Anderson Silva’s finest moments inside the Octagon. Fighting for the title back in 2006 against Rich Franklin.

The UFC have made two more middleweight fights official for UFC 164.

Yoel Romero (5-1) has agreed to meet Derek Brunson (10-2) in what is expected to be part of the preliminary card. Romero burst in to the UFC by knocking out Clifford Starks in April of this year, winning KO of the night for his handy work. Brunson meanwhile debuted against Chris Leben at UFC 155 and used his effective wrestling to pick up an upset decision victory.

Also agreed is a clash between Jared Hamman ( 13- 5) and Magnus Cedenblad (10 -4 ), which will also feature on the preliminary card. Hamman bounces back from an injury following back to back losses to Costa Phillipou and Michael Kuiper. Cedenblad meanwhile looks to put his name in the win column following a defeat in his UFC debut to Francis Carmont.

UFC 164 is scheduled for August 31 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee and will be headlined by a UFC lightweight title fight between Benson Henderson and TJ Grant. The co-main event also features a clash between two former UFC heavyweight champions as Frank Mir takes on the returning Josh Barnett.

Glory 9 New York is Saturday, June 22nd live from the historic Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan. The event within the event is the Light Heavyweight Slam Tournament. Eight of the best 95kg/209lb stand up fighters in the world will fight to become the first-ever Title holder, and win a beautiful Championship Belt and a large check from Glory Sports International. Past Slam winners have won between $100,300 and $400,000 USD and with the talent level and world renowned field the purse will sure to be a hefty one.

This week we will take you through the four quarterfinal match ups that begin the Glory Grand Slam. Today we examine Danyo Ilunga versus Mourad Bouzidi.

Ilunga is currently ranked as the #1 Light Heavyweight fighter in the Glory World Series. He is on a twelve fight win streak and has spent the better part of his career as a 95kg kick boxer. Danyo was also the last-ever LHW Champion of It’s Showtime, a kickboxing organization that merged with Glory last year. He trains under one of the all-time greats in kickboxing, Remy ‘The Flying Gentleman’ Bonjasky and sports a record of (51-4 with 41 knock outs). In his time in Glory he defeated Ali Cenik at Glory 2 Brussels and at Glory 5 London he beat Stéphane Susperregui with a knock out knee strike. He also holds a split decision win over Filip Verlinden, who is on the opposite side of the brackets of this Grand Slam.

Danyo’s style has parallels to his mentor and coach, Bonjasky, and his effectiveness cannot be denied. He will look to throw flying techniques and counter strike.

Bouzidi has spent most of his career as a heavyweight, while slightly smaller but quicker, is probably right where he belongs at LHW in Glory. His amassed record belies his younger age of 28 at (75-20-2,  with 34 KO’s) and trains under another legend of kickboxing, four time Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, Peter Aerts. Bouzidi has had his share of success as of late, defeating Fabiano ‘Cyclone’ Aoki at Glory 6 Istanbul, by TKO. At the end of 2012, he was selected to join the 16-man field of heavyweights in the Heavyweight Grand Slam at Glory 4 Tokyo. That night his first opponent was none other than his own mentor, Aerts, and won via TKO due to a broken hand. In the second round, he faced Daniel Ghita and was defeated by TKO after a massive kick that brought the referee’s stoppage. At Glory 2 Brussels, Bouzidi went toe-to-toe with Gokhan Saki for three solid rounds in the co-main event.

Mourad has supreme confidence going into this fight and tournament, feeling like the physically bigger and stronger fighter who can take victory with his technical acumen and his power.

Both of these men will want to end this fight early and will swing for the fences. If I had to pick one man to win, it would be Ilunga, riding on a huge win streak and looking to dominate the Glory Light Heavyweights like he has done everywhere else he has fought.

Enjoy the Glory 9 New York Promotional Video Below:

UFC 161 was June 15th, 2013 Live on pay per view from Winnipeg, Manitoba and featured the Main Event of “Suga” Rashad Evans defeating Dan “Hendo” Henderson by a close decision. These two veterans and former champions pulled in the most money on the card, understandably. Jake Shields was third on the list with $150K (75+75 to win) and a surprising James Krause won $112,000 as he won Fight of the Night AND Submission of the Night. That turned his $6+6= $12,000 purse into a huge windfall with the amazing third round submission of Sam Stout. Stout, who is always tough and a multiple time winner of FOTN ended the night with the consolation of the other half of the UFC 161 FOTN bonus to bring his total to $76,000.

Also of note, Roy Nelson the UFC’s #5 Ranked Heavyweight lost to Stipe Miocic and was paid only $24K, due to the contract stipulations from his original TUF deal. Pat Barry received $22,000 in his KO loss to Shawn Jordan who pulled in an extra $50K for Knocking Barry out in spectacular fashion in just under a minute and brought his total to $62K for his efforts.

Both women, Alexis Davis and Rosi Sexton had $6,000 show pay outs, while Davis doubled that by winning the fight.

The Live Gate from Ticket Sales was $3,150,000 and the total fighter payout including bonuses listed above was $1,241,500. This means by simple math that the ticket sales paid for all the fighters and bonuses and cleared almost 2 Million Dollars afterwards. In addition the UFC will claim all of the FuelTV advertising money and pay per view revenue.

These numbers aren’t official, as the Canadian provinces do not release the fighter pay, but is based on past pay outs by the UFC for the same fighters.

Rashad Evans: $485,000 ($300,000 to show, $185,000 win bonus)

Dan Henderson: $250,000

Jake Shields: $150,000 ($75,000 to show, $75,000 win bonus)

James Krause: $112,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)

Sam Stout: $76,000 ($26,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Shawn Jordan: $62,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)

Tyron Woodley: $43,500

Roy Nelson: $24,000

Pat Barry: $22,000

Stipe Miocic: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)

Sean Pierson: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)

Yves Jabouin: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)

Igor Pokrajac: $17,000

Roland Delorme: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Ryan Jimmo: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus)

Alexis Davis: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus)

Mitch Clarke: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus)

Edwin Figueroa: $10,000

Kenny Robertson: $8,000

Dustin Pague: $8,000
Rosi Sexton: $6,000

John Maguire: $6,000

UFC 161 was Pat Barry’s 11th fight under the UFC banner and Shawn Jordan TKO’d him in devastating fashion early in the first round. This brings Barry’s record to 5-6 in the UFC, and one has to wonder how much longer they will keep him around. Certainly, this latest loss hurts and has him way out of contention, as he falls to 2-4 in his last six. And the UFC would be inclined to keep him, one of the few fun and wacky characters in all of MMA, but will his next contract be for less money per fight? Its something that many people feel happened to Cheick Kongo, who was not re-signed after his last contract expired. Rumors abounded that the UFC offered to keep him, but at a lower price. Its something that Barry may have to deal with, and how much would something like that hurt his pride?

So, where does Barry go from here? Many people feel that being a short (5’11) heavyweight could lead him to the Light Heavyweight division. If Barry were to drop, he would be able to distance himself from his recent woes in the Heavyweight division and start anew at 205. It would create some buzz, positive at that and interesting match ups to see the powerful former kick boxer in. There is room on his frame to lose weight, to be sure, and there are plenty of nutritionists that could help him make the cut to light heavy, such as Mike Dolce. The UFC would love to see Barry try his hand at this lower weight class and could certainly justify paying him at least as much as his current contract to devote himself to make the drop to 205.

But, as we have heard from Barry himself, he never seems interested in even trying to drop. He’s made video’s saying why he can’t, or won’t and isn’t interested in doing so. Does the man called ‘Hype or Die’ look bad for not even trying to make the cut? His flat out refusal comes off to some as stubborn and immature.

How does that translate to the guys like Dana White, who has been making tough cuts, including a top 5 welterweight in Jon Fitch. Fellow heavyweight Roy Nelson has been having an infamous war of words over his last fight on his current contract, a unanimous decision loss to Stipe Miocic on the same card. Will he be re-signed? It remains to be seen.

If Barry is let go or wants to leave if he’s offered less to stay, where would he go? Bellator has picked up former UFC fighter, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who had been a huge critic of the UFC pay scale and said that he would take a pay cut just to go fight somewhere else. Rampage felt sure he would make up the difference and then some with endorsements from companies that sponsor him, but that the UFC wouldn’t allow him to sport in the Octagon. Other former UFC fighters like Fitch, and Jacob Volkman have found the MMA World Series of Fighting for their new home. Barry would certainly be welcome there, too. And on the outside chance he wanted to go and fight in Asia, ONE FC would love to have another San Shou champion on their roster.

If Barry had been on his last fight and seemingly about to go into contract negotiations like Roy Nelson did, I think we would have heard about it before now. If Barry’s next fight is his last on his current deal, a loss would put him at 5-7 and in a poor spot to negotiate. His biggest win in the UFC is hard to pick out because his opponents aren’t contenders. He hasn’t even ever won two in a row for Zuffa. Whoever he fights next, Pat Barry had better win, and win big- if he wants to stay in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

UFC 161 took place this Saturday, live on PPV, and featured a main event of light heavyweight Dan Henderson battling former champion Rashad Evans.

Main Card (Live on PPV, 10:00 PM ET)

–Rashad Evans defeated Dan Henderson by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

-Stipe Miocic defeated Roy Nelson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

-Ryan Jimmo defeated Igor Pokrajac by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

-Alexis Davis defeated Rosi Sexton by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)

-Shawn Jordan defeated Pat Barry by TKO (Punches, 1st Round, 0:49)

Preliminary Card (Live on FX, 8:00 PM ET)

-Jake Shields defeated Tyron Woodley by Split Decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

-James Krause defeated Sam Stout by Submission (Guillotine, 3rd Round, 4:40)

-Sean Pierson defeated Kenny Robertson by Majority Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

-Roland Delorme defeated Edwin Figueroa by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card (Live on Facebook, 7:05 PM)

-Mitch Clarke defeated John Maguire by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

-Yves Jabouin defeated Dustin Pague by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses.^[18]

• Fight of the Night: Sam Stout vs. James Krause
• Knockout of the Night: Shawn Jordan
• Submission of the Night: James Krause