On a spectacular night of kickboxing, former GLORY light heavyweight champion Donegi Abena scored a hat-trick of finishes to win the GLORY light heavyweight Grand Prix.
The event, which took place at Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena, saw an array of the sport’s best strikers throw themselves into a one-night tournament for light heavyweight supremacy, and it was Suriname’s Abena who came out the other side after running the gauntlet and finishing each of his opponents along the way.
In his quarter-final matchup, Abena took on Romania’s Stefan Latescu, and put him away with a head kick finish early in the third round. Then, in the semis, he faced the man who dethroned him for the light heavyweight title back in March, Tarik Khbabez.
Abena lost that meeting via split decision in Arnhem at the GLORY Heavyweight Grand Prix event, but this time around Abena had Khbabez’s number, as he finished the Moroccan with leg kicks 30 seconds into the second round.
That win propelled Abena into the tournament final, where he took on Azerbaijan’s Bahram Rajabzadeh, who had finished Ibrahim El Bouni and Sergej Maslobojev to earn his spot in the final.
But in the final, it was all Abena in the finale as he dropped Rajabzadeh three times in the opening round to score a tournament-winning TKO and capture the GLORY light heavyweight Grand Prix trophy.
And, after his victory, Abena shared his emotions as he claimed the Grand Prix title after his title loss earlier this year.
“I’m feeling great. After everything that happened, for me, winning this eight-man tournament, I’m calling it salvation and destiny,” he said.
“I want to thank everybody here, and especially my coach. People don’t give him enough credit for the work we have done. When I came to him, he believed in me. Even before I threw a punch, he believed in me, and he’s still with me right now.
“I did what I had to do. I listened to my corner, and that’s it, that’s the result of it. Hard work and listening for years, for years, and for years!”
Abena also paid tribute to his opponent, but said that his technical skills were the key to defeat Rajabzadeh’s power.
“He’s explosive!” he admitted.
“His first kick, I could feel it in my hand. He’s powerful, he’s very powerful and explosive. But everybody knows, timing over power, precision over speed.”
GLORY light heavyweight Grand Prix: Official results
- Donegi Abena def. Bahram Rajabzadeh via TKO (three knockdowns) – Round 1, 2:43 – Grand Prix final
- Ionut Iancu def. Murat Aygun via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:43 – heavyweight
- Ramy Deghir def. Brice Kombou via split decision (30-27, 29-28 x 2, 28-29 x 2) – middleweight
- Bahram Rajabzadeh def. Sergej Maslobojev via TKO (retirement) – Round 2, 0:20 – Grand Prix semi-final 2
- Donegi Abena def. Tarik Khbabez via TKO (leg kicks) – Round 2, 0:30 – Grand Prix semi-final 1
- Bahram Rajabzadeh def. Ibrahim El Bouni via TKO (flying knee) – Round 1, 2:02 – Grand Prix quarter-final 4
- Sergej Maslobojev def. Bogdan Stoica via TKO (knee) – Round 1, 1:05 – Grand Prix quarter-final 3
- Donegi Abena def. Stefan Latescu via TKO (high kick) – Round 3, 0:59 – Grand Prix quarter-final 2
- Tarik Khbabez def. Pascal Toure via unanimous decision (30-26 x 3, 29-27 x 2) – Grand Prix quarter-final 1
- Soufiane Abdelkhalek def. Ilyass Chakir via unanimous decision (30-25 x 5) – welterweight
- Cem Caceres def. Mohamed Amine via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:32 – Grand Prix reserve bout
