Live on Spike TV, Friday, Aug. 7 at 11/10c
From The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas
Undefeated under the GLORY banner and riding an eight-fight winning streak in the organization, welterweight phenom Nieky “The Natural” Holzken (86-11, 45 KO) will fight for kickboxing’s most prestigious title in the headline bout when he takes on human highlight reel Raymond “The Real Deal” Daniels (27-2, 17 KO) in a rematch of their exciting battle at GLORY 19 in February.
In the explosive co-headline match-up, Northern California’s Xavier “X-Man” Vigney (8-1, 8 KO), who knocked out two opponents in the same night during the Heavyweight Qualification Tournament at GLORY 21 in May, battles hulking heavyweight Daniel “The Warrior” Sam (25-10, 13 KO) of London, England. The pairing represents one of GLORY’s largest face-offs to date with Vigney standing 6’8″ tall, weighing 255 pounds and Sam standing 6′ 7″ tall, weighing 275 pounds.
Fighting in the first of two semi-final match-ups of GLORY’s one-night, four-man All-American Middleweight Qualification Tournament, 2013 ‘Road to GLORY’ Light Heavyweight Tournament winner Dustin “The Hayak” Jacoby (4-6, 3 KO) of Denver meets Ariel “Smash” Sepulveda (4-1, 1 KO) of New York, making his GLORY debut. On the other side of the tournament bracket, Casey “Go” Greene (2-4, 1 KO) of Los Angeles squares off against Quinton O’Brien (2-0) of St. Louis, also making his debut for the promotion.
In addition to claiming two victories in one night, the tournament winner at GLORY 23 will be granted entry into GLORY’s Middleweight Contender Tournament later this year. Successfully navigating the Contender Tournament earns the winner the next shot at the middleweight title.
The full five-fight card for GLORY 23 can be found below:
Welterweight Title Headline Bout: Nieky Holzken vs. Raymond Daniels
Middleweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout: Xavier Vigney vs. Daniel Sam
Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final Bout B: Casey Greene vs. Quinton O’Brien
Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final Bout A: Dustin Jacoby vs. Ariel Sepulveda
For the first time ever, the weigh-ins for GLORY 23 will be streamed live and free via GLORY’s YouTube channel on Thursday, Aug. 6 starting at 7pm ET/4pm PT.