Glory 23 Card Finalized for Promotion’s Las Vegas Debut

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International kickboxing promotion Glory has finalized the lineup for its Las Vegas debut.

Glory 23 takes place Aug. 7 inside the Hard Rock Hotel Casino and will televised live on Spike TV starting at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT. Headlined by a welterweight championship bout between Nieky Holzken and Raymond Daniels, Glory 23 also boasts a four-man one-night middleweight tournament as well as a heavyweight showdown between knockout artists Xavier Vigney and Daniel Sam. As expected, the event will showcase a sizeable undercard full of Glory super fights.

Holzken has won eight straight battles under the Glory banner, including a win over Daniels back on the Glory 19 card in February. Holzken (86-11, 45 KOs), a Dutch fighter from the famed Golden Glory Gym, has taken on a who’s who of muay Thai and kickboxing. He’s scored huge wins over the likes of Davit Kiria, Karapet Karapetyan, Cosmo Alexandre and countless others. His last fight was against Daniels, whom he knocked out in the third round.

Daniels is looking for revenge and bounced back with a win over Justin Baesman in May on the Glory 21 card. The long-time karate champion and World Combat League veteran is the underdog coming in, but Daniels (27-2, 17 KOs) has the talent to pull off the upset and walk away with the vacant title.

Vigney is coming off an explosive night on the Glory 21 card, where he knocked out Chi Lewis Parry and Maurice Jackson. “X-Man” (8-1, eight KOs) is hoping to continue his knockout streak going against Sam (25-10, 13 KOs), who had lost four straight bouts between 2013 and 2014. Sam has since reversed his fortunes; he last fought in June where he toppled Brian Douwes via unanimous decision.

The matchups in the four-man middleweight bracket are Dustin Jacoby taking on Ariel Sepulveda and Casey Greene versus Quinton O’Brien. Whoever prevails in the tourney will be granted automatic entry in Glory’s Middleweight Contender Tournament later this year.

Glory 23 Lineup:
Nieky Holzken vs. Raymond Daniels
Xavier Vigney vs. Daniel Sam
Dustin Jacoby vs. Ariel Sepulveda
Casey Greene vs. Quinton O’Brien
Super Fight Undercard:
Anderson Silva vs. Jamal Ben Saddik
Matt Baker vs. Edward Hyman
Murthel Groenhart vs. Chad Sugden
Giga Chikadze vs. Anvar Boynazarov