By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Trenton, NJ — Giga Chikadze received an upset win over favorite Serhiy Adamchuk to start the Featherweight Contender Tournament at the Sun National Bank Center and kick off Glory 33 New Jersey. It was a split decision, as two judges had Chikadze winning 29-28, while one had Adamchuk as a 29-28 winner.
Chikadze advanced to the final of the Featherweight Contender Tournament with his win.
Matt Embree — who was making his Glory debut — then defeated Chibin Lim, also in the Featherweight Contender Tournament. Embree knocked Lim out at the very end of the second round.
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Lim was in trouble early in the second round when Embree started to pound his legs with leg kicks that took a lot out of him. Embree won via the three-knockdown rule limit.
Now, after this match, we knew it was going to be Embree and Chikadze in the final of the tournament.
Guto Inocenté defeated Hesby Gerges in a split decision in the Heavyweight co-headliner. Two judges had Inocenté as the winner 29-28, while one had Gerges as the winner with a 29-28 score.
Inocenté was also bleeding at the end of the third round as he was going to his corner by his eye. Inocenté is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter, who had two fights with them in 2014, both losses.
Embree and Chikadze returned — but Embree showed that he wasn’t going to be stopped in his initial Glory event. Chikadze was nearly counted out on the first knockdown, but he was saved by the bell for the second round.
The punch was a clear shot on Chikadze’s head — which was the reason for the knockdown. The second knockdown was even more severe, as it buckled his feet and it was over from there.
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After winning his match, Embree was presented with a trophy as the winner of the Featherweight Contender Tournament. He needed just a minute and 28 seconds into the second for the win — which he said he expected to win when he was interviewed by ESPN’s Todd Grisham.
Then, it was time for the main event, as Rico Verhoeven showed why he’s the Heavyweight champion. After Anderson “Braddock” Silva was eating Verhoeven’s kicks and punches, it suffered three knockdowns in the second — which officially ended their match.
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