Glory 54 takes place Saturday, June 2 at Genting Arena in Birmingham, England. Combat sports oddsmaker Nick Kalikas recently released odds for the card, and here are the opening odds courtesy of Several Bookmakers.
The main event sees Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven (53-10) put hs belt on the line against challenger Mladen Brestovac (56-12-1). Verhoeven has a 16-1 record in Glory and has won 15-straight fights in the promotion including former UFC heavyweight Antonio Silva. Verhoeven is one of the best heavyweights to ever compete in kickboxing and at only 29 is still in his physical prime. Brestovac is 3-3 in Glory and is coming off of two-straight knockout wins. At 34 he is the only fighter in the bout but he does have a tremendous amount of experience. Having said that I agree with Verhoeven being a massive favorite here as he should dominate this fight and win via KO. The under may be worth a look here as I don’t see this fight lasting very long.
The co-main event sees Glory welterweight champion Harut Grigorian (47-11) put on his belt on the line against challenger Alim Nabiyev (49-6). Grigorian is 6-2 in Glory has won his last three fights in Glory and knocked out Murthel Groenhart in his last match. At 29 he is in his physical prime. Nabiyev is 3-0 in Glory incuding a notable decision win over Nieky Holzken. He is just 23 and should continue to improve. This should be a really competitive bout between two solid fighters, but I’m kind of leaning towards the dog Nabiyev. It should be a close match but I’m liking his momentum and youth advantage and I can see him getting the upset win here.
Elsewhere on the card, Danyo Ilunga (58-13) takes on Fraser Weightman (21-1) in a light heavyweight contest. Ilunga is is only 7-6 in Glory and had lost five-straight fights before a KO win over Michel Duut in his last fight. At 31 I don’t see him improving too much. Weightman is making his Glory debut here at age 29. I just have a hard time laying juice on a guy who has lost as much as Ilunga has and I’d say Weightman might have some value here as a dog, though it’s hard to be confident considering it’s his Glory debut.
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GLORY 54 Main Card – (4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT – Live on ESPN3)
Glory Heavyweight 120 kg Championship
Mladen Brestovac +500
Rico Verhoeven -900
Over 2.5 -140
Under 2.5 +100
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Glory Welterweight 77 kg Championship
Alim Nabiyev -115
Harut Grigorian -125
Over 3.5 -110
Under 3.5 -130
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Featherweight 66 kg
Aleksei Ulianov -120
Bailey Sugden -120
Over 2.5 -280
Under 2.5 +200
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Featherweight 66 kg
Adrian Maxim +140
Chenglong Zhang -180
Over 2.5 -245
Under 2.5 +175
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GLORY 54 SuperFight Series – (UFC FIGHT PASS at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT)
Light Heavyweight 95 kg
Fraser Weightman +100
Danyo Ilunga -140
Over 2.5 -170
Under 2.5 +130
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Lightweight 70 kg
Josh Jauncey +125
Christian Baya -165
Over 2.5 -230
Under 2.5 +170
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