Glory 6: Istanbul is coming over internet PPV at 1pm EST this Saturday afternoon with a stacked card from top to bottom headlined by one of the best heavyweight kickboxing bouts in a long, long time. Glory has seemed to be doing everything it takes to revitalize the kickboxing scene, and this card is proof. The hyped rematch between Daniel Ghita and Gokhan Saki from the now-classic 2010 K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix headlines the card, and while nearly three years later the kickboxing scene has been in a bit of a flux, these two have remained big names. Ghita has grown into being one of the best heavyweights in the business with losses to only Hesdy Gerges, Gokhan Saki (in the aforementioned HWGP) and Semmy Schilt in the last three years. In that time he’s only gone to the judges once, finishing every fighter across from him in awe-inspiring fashion. Since that fateful night in 2010 where Saki was able to take the the decision over Ghita in the extension round and later lose to Alistair Overeem, he’s had a light schedule, going 6-2 with losses to Semmy Schilt and Badr Hari. Simply put, this is one of the most elite matches that can be put together right now in kickboxing. Their first match was a razor-thin decision, and this fight should produce an equally close fight that will deliver in the entertainment department. Ghita needs to use his size advantage more than last time to come out of this on top. Saki is currently a very slight -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100), with Ghita a -105 underdog (bet $105 to win $100) over at Several Bookmakers. Mourad Bouzidi is a frustrating fighter, which is to say that Mourad Bouzidi is a very good fighter who sometimes loses to lesser opposition, while other times he’ll show flashes of pure greatness. He has wins over some of the most impressive names in the sport to balance things out, including a win over Peter Aerts in December during the Glory Grand Slam tournament before he lost to Daniel Ghita in the next round. Fabiano Aoki is the kind of fighter that Bouzidi should mow right through. That isn’t to say that Aoki is a bad fighter, exactly, just that Aoki has yet to fight above the smaller leagues in Japan, which are great for lighter weights, but at Heavyweight there is no one really of note. His biggest wins to date are over Singh Jaideep, whom we last saw being outclassed by Daniel Sam at Glory 5. Bouzidi has the obvious advantage in this fight and it is his fight to lose, he just has to stay focused. As the fight draws closer, Bouzidi is -195 and Fabiano “Cyclone” is +155. Nieky Holzken’s story is that of a guy who grew too big for 70kg and had a tough time transitioning to a higher weight class where there wasn’t as much competition readily available, at least not with big names. Since he moved up he’s really made his mark on the 78kg weight class, with his only losses coming to L’houcine Ouzgni and Artur Kyshenko. Karim Ghajji has been a force above 75kgs for a while now, with some impressive wins over Yohan Lidon. But now the only problem is, the few times he’s stepped up in competition, he hasn’t fared as well. Nieky is a step up for him, not a huge step up, but still a step up. Holzken’s body punches and knees might be too much for him to handle. Holzken’s superior skills make him a -170 favorite over the more natural 78kg fighter Ghajji who sports a +130 line. Andy Ristie is seemingly the next big thing at 70kg right now, with his only recent loss being to perennial top of the 70kg fighter Andy Souwer last year. Other than that, he mows through anyone that stands in his way. He has 39 wins right now with 20 by way of Knockout, most in a brutal fashion. Fans were robbed of seeing him a few weeks ago due to visa issues and this fight was cobbled together at last minute for him. Campagna is a good fighter who has not been able to really transition to the elite of the 70kg division, although his recent win over Fabio Pinca is a step in the right direction. This may e a long night for Campagna. Ristie’s talent has made him the biggest favorite on the card at -350, with Campagna having a steep hill to climb to make his +250 underdog line come through. Oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has also opened betting lines for some of the additional bouts on this card. They are: ——————– L’houcine Ouzgni -190 Marc de Bonte +150 Murat Direkci -190 Joseph Valtelini +150 Dong Su Kim -170 Naoki Yasuda +130 ——————–
