British-born GLORY heavyweight Chi Lewis Parry, 6-1, is out of his co-headline fight with UFC veteran Guto Inocente, which was scheduled for next week’s UFC FIGHT PASS streamed event.
The 6-foot-9 heavyweight was sparring with UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on May 2 at the American Kickboxing Academy guy in San Jose, California, when the kickboxer landed a punch to the top of DC’s head.
“Chopper” told UFC.com: “We were in a sparring session and the energy level was high. Cormier is really motivated right now after watching Jon Jones' last fight the other night. So we were getting into it in the stand up - and next thing I've thrown my left hook and it's landed on his head and I just felt this shooting pain up my arm, from my hand up to my shoulder. I just knew something had happened.”
Parry – best known to UFC fans as the man who had a screaming match with Jon Jones several months ago - continued: “I got my glove off and my hand was swelling up, so I called it a day. It's turned out to be a fracture. I am gutted that I can't fight next week. I was looking to really send a message to (GLORY heavyweight champion) Rico Verhoeven, but I will be back in the ring as soon as I can.”
The AKA Gym, which boasts UFC middleweight kingpin Luke Rockhold and former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez as well as DC, has taken heat for their intense training sessions in the past.
Parry, however, rejects that criticism and stressed that while the sparring with Cormier was certainly spirited, it wasn’t dangerous.
“They do spar hardcore at AKA but we’re not trying to injure or knock each other out,” Parry said. “(Head trainer) Javier Mendez is right on top of it and if someone is struggling or hurt they are pulled out of sparring immediately and they are done for the day.
“They aren’t doing anything crazy at AKA you wouldn’t see in any top gym – I can tell you it’s not absolutely insane like the Dutch kickboxing gyms I’ve trained at. There you see full head-kick KOs and stuff like that all the time.”
Parry’s place in the GLORY SuperFight Series event has been taken by Brian Douwes.
Meanwhile, the British behemoth sounded a warning to Jon Jones, who takes on his friend Cormier in the main event of UFC 200 in July.
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“It’s no secret I don’t like Jones, but I can tell you that there’s not many people who can take a clean left from me and stay on their feet. Cormier did that,” Parry said. “We’ve had some really hard sparring this last week, and DC is really, really tough and motivated to beat Jones in this fight.”
The full five-fight card for GLORY 30 SuperFight Series now looks like:
Full GLORY 30 SuperFight Series
Middleweight Headline Bout: Joe Schilling vs. Jason Wilnis
Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout: Brian Douwes vs. Guto Inocente
Middleweight Bout: Mike Lemaire vs. Karl Roberson
Light-Heavyweight Bout: Manny Mancha vs. Warren Thompson
Super Bantamweight Bout: Tiffany van Soest vs. Esma Hasshass
Don’t miss GLORY 30 SuperFight Series live on UFC FIGHT PASS, May 13, at 10 pm ET.
HILL OVER HER TUF LUCK, PROMISES INVICTA TITLE WIN ON SATURDAY
Former Ultimate Fighters season 20 contestant Angela Hill challenges the undefeated Livia Souza for the Invicta FC strawweight title this Saturday. It is one half of a double main event card from the world’s premier all-female MMA organization, which will be streamed live from Costa Mesa, California, on UFC FIGHT PASS.
New Yorker “Overkill”, 4-2 in MMA, fully expects to win a Fight of the Night bonus along with a new, shiny Invicta title belt.
“This fight is going to be really exciting,” Hill said. “That title belt means everything to her she so she will absorb a hell of a beating before she gives it up.”
But it is going to be as easy as that?
After all, Souza is 9-0 since turning professional three years ago, and the 25-year-old Brazilian has only been taken the distance once since then. In fact, the defending Invicta 115lbs champion is widely considered to be one of the most talented female fighters outside of the UFC.
"She’s a pretty dangerous BJJ black belt and has won most her fights by submission, so my goal is to beat her standing and not get tangled up in her grappling too much,” Hill admitted. “She’s got some tricks on the ground. But I don’t see any wrestling style takedowns, so I think she’s a good match-up for me because she’s not going to have an answer in the clinch or on the feet.”
Now aged 28, Hill was 1-0 when she entered The Ultimate Fighter house two years ago and feels her stint in Invicta is allowing her to develop her skillset at a more realistic pace.
She said: “I was fighting top five girls in the world in the UFC. I feel my two wins in Invicta so far have shown that I can get there, but I need to keep working on my weaknesses. Winning the Invicta belt will show the world that I’m getting better and, when I fight, they have to watch!”
Invicta FC 17 streams live on FIGHT PASS May 7 at 9 pm ET.
ALMOST TIME BOMB TIME
As you may have heard, Tiffany “Time Bomb” Van Soest is set to blow up in the martial arts world after signing deals with two top combat sports organizations – both of which are exclusively available on UFC FIGHT PASS.
Van Soest – widely considered one of the very best female Muay Thai kickboxers in the world – will now showcase her uber-aggressive striking in GLORY, after signing with the world’s premiere kickboxing organization. However, she will also debut in MMA, having also reached an agreement to compete in the world’s leading all-female group Invicta FC.
“I am so excited about signing with these two organizations, they are both the best in the world in their market,” said Van Soest. “It's an honor for me to be the first female fighter signed to GLORY and it's also an honor that Invicta FC want to add me to the line-up.”
Van Soest comes will enter both organizations with serious credentials. She is a former World Muay Thai Council (WMC) champion and also held titles in top Muay Thai organization Lion Fight prior to exiting the promotion as champion earlier in 2016.
GLORY will be the first of her new homes to host her. She will take to the ring at GLORY SuperFight Series 30 LOS ANGELES on Friday, May 13 to face the experienced Esma Hasshass. The fight will be the first in the ring at next week FIGHT PASS event.
GLORY told UFC.com that they’ve had trouble finding an opponent for the Time Bomb, but the 11-9 “Fight Queen” stepped up and plans to upset Van Soest audacious plan to dominate kickboxing and MMA at the same time. Hasshass has a terrifying attack-minded style, and goes for the knockout immediately. This is a hard first test for the Time Bomb.
No date or location is yet set for Van Soest's Invicta debut, which will also be her professional MMA bow. Invicta is a tough place to have your first professional MMA bout but Van Soest is experienced on big stages and sees no issues.
She said: “I feel like Invicta is a great platform and I am confident in my skills and my development. I do well under pressure and I feel like it is the perfect place to start my MMA career. I’m going to be at Invicta on Saturday, and am looking forward to getting a feel for the competition. But, other than that, my first focus is winning my first fight in GLORY.”
Don’t miss GLORY 30 SuperFight Series live on UFC FIGHT PASS, May 13, at 10 pm ET.
