GLORY 87 results: Bahram Rajabzadeh qualifies for grand prix, Tyjani Beztati retains title

GLORY 87 took place from the electric Rotterdam Ahoy arena in the Netherlands on Saturday evening, August 19, and it proved to be another big night of kickboxing with a lot of breakout performances and big victories.

Taking center stage of the night was the four-man heavyweight tournament, where the winner booked his spot in the historic end of year, eight-man GLORY heavyweight grand prix.

The honors went to the explosive Bahram Rajabzadeh (65-1, 58 KO), as the Azerbaijani put on two equally stellar performances to win the tournament. In the semifinals, he defeated Mohamed Amine (29-6, 16 KO) thanks to two knockdowns and showcasing a dazzling display of offense before using his superior skill and speed against Estonian giant Uku Jurjendal (19-8, 15 KO) in the finals.

Rajabzadeh will now go up against the likes of Tariq Osaro, Sofian Laidouni, and five other yet to be determined heavyweights – which will include either Badr Hari or James McSweeney, who meet at GLORY 88 in Paris next month – this December. The winner will walk away with a life-changing $500,000 prize.

In the co-main event, Tyjani Beztati (25-4, 9 KO) retained his GLORY lightweight championship as he cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Japanese superstar Kaito Ono (48-7-1, 21 KO). This is the 25-year-old’s fourth title defense and, arguably, his most impressive as he truly establishes himself as the king of the lightweight division.

Ghana’s Michael Boapeah (16-3-1, 7 KO) avenged his 2022 loss to Germany’s Sergej Braun (43-13, 27 KO) with his most mature and all-round impressive performance to date. It has been a breakout year for the No. 1-ranked middleweight thanks to three victories on the bounce as he declares himself ready for a title shot.

Elsewhere on the main card, former champ and GLORY legend Murthel Groenhart (70-26-3, 40 KO) rolled back the years to put on a vintage display against German prospect Cihad Akipa (49-12, 18 KO) and rising Dutch star Jan Kaffa (20-3, 7 KO) enjoyed his second GLORY victory as he rallied from behind to score a victory over Mohamed El Hammouti (7-2, 4 KO).

In the GLORY 87 prelims, it was third time lucky for Morocco’s Imad Hadar (25-2, 9 KO) as he finally registered his first victory in GLORY thanks to a hard-fought decision victory over durable Pole Bartosz Muszynski (26-4, 5 KO). And in the opening bout of the night, Serbian heavyweight Nikola Filipovic (11-2, 6 KO) handed Romania’s Cristian Ristea (44-11, 21 KO) a decision loss on his promotional debut.

GLORY 87 results include:

• Bahram Rajabzadeh def. Uku Jurjendal via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – heavyweight tournament final

• Champ Tyjani Beztati def. Kaito Ono via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – to retain lightweight title

• Michael Boapeah def. Sergej Braun via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

• Murthel Groenhart def. Cihad Akipa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 29-28)

• Jan Kaffa def. Mohamed El Hammouti via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

• Uku Jurjendal def. Martin Terpstra via TKO (two knockdown rule) – Round 1, 2:23 – heavyweight tournament semifinal

• Bahram Rajabzadeh def. Mohamed Amine via TKO (two knockdown rule) – Round 2, 2:59 – heavyweight tournament semifinal

• Imad Hadar def. Bartosz Muszynski via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

• Nikola Filipovic def. Cristian Ristea via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29) – heavyweight tournament reserve bout