Fight For Glory is a new Finnish promotion that will hold it’s first event on the 6th of April at the Caribian Arena in Turku, Finland. Promoter Erkka Sahlström has fought himself in the famed FinnFight no-holds-barred tournaments and has long history with MMA but promotion’s first card offers a lot more than just MMA. On it’s website Fight For Glory promises to deliver highly combat sports combined with entertainment to it’s crowd. That seems to be the case as the event will feature pro and ammy MMA bouts but also Muay Thai fights and even a special American Boxing bout.
In the main event of evening Finnish lightweight Niko Puhakka (27-13) takes on rising Bulgarian talent Hristo Hristov (7-1). The match up is a short notice replacement for the original main event between Timo-Juhani Hirvikangas and Johny Frachey that was called off after Hirvikangas suffered a knee injury. Puhakka, who is one of the most experienced pro fighters in the Euro circuit, went 3-2 in 2012. In his latest bout at M-1 that Puhakka dropped a decision to Russian grappler Musa Khamanaev after five rounds of grueling fighting. Like the fight at Fight For Glory, Puhakka took also the M-1 fight on a very short notice. In Turku Puhakka will face a dangerous up-n-comer in Hristov. The Bulgarian holds a recent notable win over Frenchman Olivier Pastor and has fought a draw with former Cage Warriors champ Ivan Musardo.
Turku’s own Makwan Amirkhani will present his one man show to the home crowd again. At the Cage 21 the featherweight prospect spent more time with his entrance than he did fighting in the cage. All it took was 1 minute 56 seconds for the Finn to choke out Frenchman Tom Duquesnoy unconsious with a brabo choke. The submission was Amirkhani’s seventh in eight pro fights. At the Fight For Glory he will face another Frenchman in Nayeb “the Strangler” Hezam. Bellator veteran Hezam is a skilled and experienced grappler who has fought in Finland before. In 2011 he won a decision over highly regarded featherweight Matteus Lähdesmäki at Shooto Lahti 9. The match up between Amirkhani and Hezam is an interesting one as both fighters are known for their aggressive and finish oriented grappling.
Outspoken Amirkhani commented the upcoming fight to our content partner FightSport.fi:
“I’m thinking what new I can bring to this event. Will I continue the string of first round finishes or play it safe? I would like to score a first round finish over such an experienced guy. If the fight goes past the first round, I want to see blood. After all the fight will be in front of a home crowd again. I haven’t lost and I will not lose in my home town.”
In the open weight American Boxing fight two huge and powerful men will collide in the ring. The battle between powerlifter Petteri Hosio and bodybuilder Petteri Kiviniemi is scheduled for five two minute rounds. The bout will be fought under modified boxing rules with small ten ounce gloves.
In the Muay Thai pro fight Helsinki based Thai and former Rachadamnoe stadium champ Deo “Check Bin” Phetsangkhat battles with Belarussian Igor Klimovits. Check Bin has fought over 200 professional Muay Thai bouts while Klimovits comes to the fight with a great record of 40-6 with 20 knockouts.
Pro MMA
Niko Puhakka (27-13) vs Hristo Hristov (7-1)
Makwan Amirkhani (8-1) vs. Nayeb Hezam (14-14)
Aleksi Kainulainen (2-1) vs. Ville Lehmusmetsä (1-0)
Teemu Packalen (1-0) vs. Konstantinos Persson (2-0)
Janne Rantanen (5-8) vs. Semen Tyrlya (5-3)
Ammy MMA
Tomi Sormunen vs. Janne Häkkinen
Zanko Eliassi vs. Marko Tani
Mika Kuronen vs. Alehandro Alc
Iida Blom vs. Janette Sinisalo
American Boxing
Petteri Hosio vs. Petteri Kiviniemi
Muay Thai
Daniel Forsberg vs. Jani Toivonen
Deo “Check Bin” Phetsangkhat vs. Igor Klimovits
