GLORY 3 Rome - Final 8: The Super Fights

Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 16:13 Wednesday, 31 October 2012 15:45

Written by Rian Scalia

GLORY 3 Rome - Final 8 takes place this Saturday, November 3, featuring the GLORY Final 8 tournament at 70kg where eight of the world's best 70kg fighters fight in a one night tournament to win $300 000. You can watch the event live on LiverKick. For more information, click here.

The main attraction at this Saturday, November 3's "GLORY 3 Rome - Final 8" is obviously the Final 8 70kg eight man, one night tournament. However, there are some other interesting fights on the card, including two super fights and two reserve fights. We're going to take a look at the two super fights on the card, which feature some newly signed talent facing off against Italian fighters.

70kg: Jordan Watson vs. Mustapha Haida

Jordan Watson was a fighter I'd been talking about for a while, saying that he deserved a shot in a big organization. He's gotten that shot, as he signed with GLORY this year. Watson is from England and has fought the likes of Buakaw Por Pramuk and Saiyok Pumphanmuang, but the "big win" has still eluded him. With this fight, he has a chance to introduce himself to a wider audience and with an impressive performance could really advance his career in GLORY going into 2013.

Watson is certainly the favorite to win the fight. His opponent, Mustapha Haida, is a 24 year old, up and coming fighter out of Italy. A win or even a good showing for Haida against Watson could do big things for his career. He was showcased on Fight Code in Italy earlier this year where he defeated Hunkar Kilic, but this time he's on a much bigger stage internationally, despite fighting in Italy. Some may see this as a showcase fight for Watson, but if Haida does well even in a loss, it won't hurt his career at all.

72.5kg: Alka Matewa vs. Marco Re

Alka Matewa is a Belgian fighter who joined the Golden Glory gym this year and like Watson, an impressive win here would advance his career. Though Matewa probably isn't as big of a favorite to win here as Watson is, my expectation is that he'll win whilst being given a good fight from Marco Re. Matewa lost to Alim Nabiev in August but took the fight on only a few day's notice. This time he'll have had a full training camp to prepare for this fight, so I expect he'll be in much better form.

Marco Re is a veteran of the Italian fight scene, fighting on Fight Code, Oktagon and Thai Boxe Mania shows throughout the past few years. He's in a similar position to Haida here, although Re is much older at 32 years of age. A win here for Re wouldn't be of the same stature as a win for Haida over Watson, but it would still come on one of the biggest stages of the sport of kickboxing.

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