Glory 78 Preview: Tyjani Beztati vs. Elvis Gashi

Tyjani Beztati and Elvis Gashi will do battle for the vacant Glory lightweight championship as part of the Superfight Series at Glory 78 on Saturday at the Ahoy Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Both men faced former titleholder Marat Grigorian but fell short. Now that Grigorian has vacated the throne, they get another shot at immortality and becoming a part of the championship’s long lineage.

Glory 78 “Badr vs. Wrzosek” is exclusively available on pay-per-view and can only be purchased online at www.gloryfights.com. You can purchase and stream the pay-per-view for €19.99, £17.99 or US$24.99 from anywhere in the world.

Beztati (19-4, 10-3 Glory) is a long and rangy striker who has a knack for the spectacular. While he is not all flash, he uses his skills and athleticism when appropriate. The 23-year-old Moroccan keeps his opponents at bay with a stiff jab and good teep to the body. He made his most recent appearance at Glory 75, where he defeated Michael Palandre in February 2020. Beztati picked off Palandre with a variety of combinations that came from different directions, at different speeds and from different distances. When “The Wonderboy” smells blood, he will go for the kill, though that does not necessarily mean he will go all out. Beztati is a smart fighter and will preserve his gas tank when he knows he has a lead. He needs to keep his composure against Gashi and his bull-in-a-China-shop routine if he wants to claim the title.

Meanwhile, Gashi (23-1, 5-1 Glory) fights like a wildman. He burst on the scene in July 2017, when he took on longtime Glory staple Josh Jauncey on short notice and knocked out the Canadian. He now owns a 5-1 record in Glory, his lone loss coming in his aforementioned encounter with Grigorian. Gashi, 28, moves forward the entire fight shows a willingness to take a shot in order to give one in return; and when he has a finish in sight, the Kosovo native becomes even more aggressive. In short, he shows a total disregard for his opponent’s power and hedges his bets on being the tougher man in the ring.

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