Glory 24 is in the books, and what was a solid card on paper delivered with some great action all night. The main event saw Joe Schilling defeat Jason Wilnis in a great fight marred by a bad ending. In his first fight since his big Bellator KO loss, Schilling came out hard here, putting a ton of pressure on Wilnis in the opening round, stifling him and shutting down his game. In the second, Schilling again started strong and got a knockdown, but Wilnis came back hard, landing some major shots that really rocked Schilling. We were heading for a great round 3, but Wilnis injured his foot in the 2nd, and the fight was waved off in the corner before the 3rd. Tremendous round that looked to be building to a terrific 3rd - shame it didn't happen.
Post-fight, Schilling gave a shout out to #FreeNickDiaz and again asserted that champion Artem Levin was ducking him, calling for his title fight rematch.
Here's the rest of the results:
- The Heavyweight tournament final between Benjamin Adegbuyi and Jahfarr Wilnis was all kinds of fun. Two big dudes just throwing down and throwing down hard. Before the card, there was a lot of "Why would you have a Heavyweight tournament in Denver?" sentiment out there - turns out that was completely off base, as these guys got tired, but just kept on coming. They exchanged combos throughout, but Wilnis had the clear advantage in the final round. The first round was very close, and in the end, that's likely the round that decided it, with Adegbuyi picking up the split decision win. Most people on Twitter seemed to have it for Wilnis, but it was a very close fight, and you certainly can't say robbery.
- This sets up Adegbuyi vs. Verhoeven II for Glory 26, in what will be a highly anticipated rematch. Can't wait for that one.
- In the night's biggest upset, Dustin Jacoby scored the win of his career when he knocked out Wayne Barrett. It wasn't that long ago that Barrett was maybe the #1 Middleweight in Glory and Jacoby simply couldn't find a way to win in Glory or Bellator, but their fortunes have changed quite a bit lately. We've seen Jacoby improve and improve throughout his Glory career, and here it all came together in his best performance, ultimately stopping Barrett in the 3rd. Great moment and great win for the Denver fighter.
- As for Barrett, he needs to rethink what he's doing. He's now 0-4 in his last 4 and has shown clear signs of a weakness in his mental game in those losses. Until he gets his head on right, he's going to keep losing.
- Benjamin Adegbuyi vs. Mladen Brestovac was a very good Heavyweight fight. Two solid competitors going at it and trading shots. But as the fight progressed, Adegbuyi just landed the cleaner ones, particularly when he trapped Brestovac in the corner. He also began working the legs effectively, and by the 3rd round, the Croatian had enough - Adegbuyi focused his attacks on the legs, dropping and finishing Brestovac with the super rare leg kick KO finish.
- The first semifinal saw Ben Edwards return from a year away from kickboxing and, sadly, he just was not ready for it. Edwards looked slow and just never really in the fight. Jahfarr Wilnis battered his legs and earned ANOTHER leg kick KO in the 2nd round. Edwards has had a boxing fight in his time away from kickboxing and looked bad there as well - I'm a big fan of his, but I don't want to see him again until he's ready to fight.
- The Superfight Series was full of debuting fighters and delivered plenty of fun action. Standout fighter was Middleweight Zack Wells, who looked crisp and very skilled in a round 1 KO win. Wells trains with Bang Ludwig, and looks to have a bright future. He's still early in his career, but watch for him.
GLORY 24 RESULTS
Joe Schilling def. Jason Wilnis, KO R2 3:00
Heavyweight Final: Benjamin Adegbuyi def. Jahfarr Wilnis, SD (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Dustin Jacoby def. Wayne Barrett, KO R3 1:40
Semifinal: Benjamin Adegbuyi def. Mladen Brestovac, KO R3 1:47
Semifinal: Jahfarr Wilnis def. Ben Edwards, KO R2 1:30
