The world welterweight championship will be on the line when current champion Cedric ‘The Best’ Doumbé (73-6-1) and former champion Murthel ‘The Predator’ Groenhart (68-24-3) meet for their trilogy bout in the main event of GLORY 70 in Lyon, France on Saturday, October 26.
Doumbé and Groenhart have a storied history and each holds a win over the other. The winner of their GLORY 70 showdown will walk away not only with the world championship but also as the winner of their trilogy series.
The rivalry between the two top-tier welterweights commenced with their GLORY 28 encounter, when a then-unknown Doumbé shocked fight fans by beating Groenhart over three rounds.
Groenhart would have gone forward to a title shot had he won, but instead had to watch Doumbé leapfrog him in the rankings before going on to secure the title himself by outclassing former champion Nieky Holzken at GLORY 36.
At GLORY 44, ‘The Predator’ got his revenge. Refusing to let Doumbé affect his focus with trash-talking and mind-games, Groenhart maintained his composure and took the world title from his French rival by way of decision after five rounds of fighting.
In the intervening period, the welterweight championship – which has the most turbulent history of any GLORY weight division – has passed from Groenhart’s hands to a new owner before finally making its homecoming Doumbé’s waist.
“Cedric Doumbé and Murthel Groenhart have one of the strongest rivalries in the entire history of this sport. There’s an intense personal dislike which adds to the professional rivalry and that’s going to boil up in the ring in Lyon on October 30,” said Marshall Zelaznik, GLORY CEO.
Source: www.glorykickboxing.com
