Glory (kickboxing)
Glory, formerly Glory World Series, is an international kickboxing promotion based in Singapore, which is owned by Pierre Andurand. It is one of the largest kickboxing promotion companies in the world and features some of the highest-level fighters in the sport on its roster. The company also has international offices in Denver, United States, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Glory produces events worldwide that showcase seven weight divisions (six men's divisions and one women's division). As of 2021, Glory has held over 80 events. The first event was held in 2012 at the Saitama Super Arena in  Saitama, Japan. Background. When K-1 began suffering from extreme financial difficulties in 2011, Total Sports Asia, TSA CEO Marcus Luer, Pierre Andurand, and Scott Rudmann of Nectar Capital attempted to buy the brand. K-1 was instead sold to Mike Kim and EMCOM Entertainment Inc. In the aftermath, Pierre Andurand, TSA, and the other investors decided to start a brand new kickboxing promotion and acquired United Glory, Golden Glory, and It's Showtime to secure a top event production team and contracts to each promotion's top fighters. Forming the Glory World Series, Pierre Andurand was named Chairman and Scott Rudmann  was named vice-chairman. A number of people formerly involved with these three entities event became Glory consultants. Glory World Series signed most of the world's top kickboxers such as Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Semmy Schilt, Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghiţă, Albert Kraus, and Giorgio Petrosyan. Business. Glory Sports International has its offices in the Netherlands, Malaysia, Singapore, and the US. The company includes a mix of entrepreneurs and senior level executives from different environments. The company's investors include Yao Capital, Liberty Global, and TwinFocus Capital Partners. In February 2013, Glory announced that former WWE Executive VP Andrew Whitaker  had been hired as the global CEO of Glory Sports International. In 2018, Glory announced that former CEO of Glory Sports International, Jon J. Franklin had moved to the role of Chief Development Officer, and former UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik had been hired as the new CEO. On May 15, 2020, Glory announced Zelaznik had resigned as Glory CEO. On May 26, 2020, Glory Sports International went into receivership. Media coverage. In June 2013, after having its first U.S. event in New York, on June 22, 2013, Spike TV signed a multi-year agreement to broadcast Glory kickboxing events; their  partnership began with on October 12 of that year. The broadcast deal with Spike was extended in May 2014 to cover 2015. In February 2016, Glory CEO Jon J. Franklin announced a new multi-year deal with ESPN. Beginning in 2019, Glory initiated a partnership with the UFC for the former's events to be exclusively carried in the U.S by UFC Fight Pass. The first event to be broadcast as part of this partnership was on February 1. Champions. Current champions. "Indicates former interim champions." Glory Heavyweight Championship. "Weight limit: Unlimited" Glory Light Heavyweight Championship. "Weight limit: " Glory Middleweight  Championship. "Weight limit: " Glory Welterweight Championship. "Weight limit: " Glory Lightweight Championship. "Weight limit: " Glory Featherweight Championship. "Weight limit: " Glory Women's Super Bantamweight Championship. "Weight limit: "