GLORY announces rule changes

[broncofan]

As the world's premier kickboxing league, GLORY not only showcases the most exciting sport on the planet but also continually seeks to enrich and evolve it. Rules are continually being tweaked by executives such as Cor Hemmers, formerly the most accomplished coach in kickboxing, to ensure the sport delivers maximum excitement for fans while at same time staying true to its core values.

Starting with GLORY 10, which takes place in Los Angeles, California on Septemeber 28, fighters will no longer be able to receive a ‘standing eight count’ from the referee. A ‘standing eight count’ is when the referee elects to intervene when a fighter has been knocked down or is in trouble while standing, giving him a count of eight seconds and examining his condition.

With no standing eight count, a fighter who is in trouble while standing will either have to elect to go down or take a knee, initiating the standard ten count, or if already knocked down will have the standard ten seconds to get back to his feet and continue. If he cannot beat the ten count then the fight will be waved off.

Round-by-round open scoring has also been dispensed with. The judge’s scores will now only be revealed at the end of the fight. The judging panel has been reduced from five members to three members and decisions will be based on their majority opinion at the end of the fight.

Having trialed a computerized system, judges will now return to using paper ballots for their scoring, which will be collected by the head judge at the end of the fight. Points will then be tallied and the decision awarded. Results will then be manually entered into the computer system for the purpose of GLORY rankings points to be calculated.

“We are always looking to make the fights as exciting as possible and we also want the sport to be easy for the fans to understand. These rule changes are designed to achieve that and we think they will be welcomed by the fans and fighters alike,” says Hemmers, a trainer of multiple champions before becoming part of the GLORY infrastructure.

http://www.gloryworldseries.com/en/news/view/273