GFL Hits Hard with Explosive Weekend of Live Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai and Bareknuckle Fighting
GoFight Live (www.gfl.tv), the world’s premier online destination for live combat sports, will roll out a sensational weekend of hard-hitting action across multiple genres of prize fighting, including the highly-anticipated matchup between former WBC light heavyweight (175 pounds) world boxing champion Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KO’s) and Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (35-3, 24 KO’s), as well as a stacked lineup of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Muay Thai and open weight, bareknuckle boxing, beginning Friday, December 5.
“This is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting and diverse weekend programming lineups we have offered in our seven-year history,” said GFL CEO David Klarman. “We are not only presenting fans with a thorough mix of combat sports products, but also with several events that are first-class in terms of the level of competition they are featuring, such as the two Muay Thai events – the King’s Birthday Celebration on Friday and the latest installment of “John” Wayne Parr’s Caged Muay Thai (CMT) series on Saturday – as well as the Pascal-Bolonti boxing card. It’s a lineup that has something for every fight fan and our rapidly growing, global audience.”
In addition to the boxing bill and the two Muay Thai events, a total of six MMA cards taking place over the course of Friday and Saturday, as well as a bareknuckle boxing fight card taking place on Saturday, round out GFL’s weekend lineup.
Xplosion 18 features six bareknuckle boxing rules bouts, all being contested at open weight in Riverton, Wyo., including the main event pitting the promotion’s first champion Billy Martin (2-0) of Riverton against Corey Williams (1-0) of Longmont, Colo., a veteran of 99 professional MMA, kickboxing and boxing bouts.
The live GFL internet pay-per-view stream of the Pascal-Bolonti card, which will take place from Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec Canada, will include four undercard bouts, including undefeated 22-year-old super featherweight (130 pounds) prospect and Pascal protégé Joel Diaz, Jr. (17-0, 13 KO’s) of Palmdale, Calif. taking on battle-tested veteran Pedro Navarrete (28-19-3, 17 KO’s) of San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico, as well as unbeaten heavyweight Bogdan Dinu (11-0, 7 KO’s) of Bucharest, Romania squaring off with Mickael Vieira (14-4, 7 KO’s) of Montlucon, Allier France.
Friday’s King’s Birthday Celebration event, which will stream live from Thurgood Marshall Center in Washington, D.C., marks the first time in history that a U.S. fight promotion will replicate the traditional Thai practice in of honoring the King of Thailand’s birthday with a Muay Thai fight card. Stacked with some of the finest U.S.-based talent, the event will be headlined by a welterweight (14 pounds) tilt between Thai import, three-time champion and top-ranked superstar Coke Chunhawat (147-27-1) of Oakland, Calif. and Carlos Lopez (22-4) of Dulles, Va.
With his ring legacy cemented as an all-time great, Parr, an eight-time world champion and former K-1 kickboxing superstar, has expanded his resume to include the role of promoter of the fast-growing, Australia-based CMT series that features Muay Thai bouts contested in a cage. Saturday’s seven-bout card at Logan Metro Sports Centre in Crestmead, Australia will be headlined by a 165 pound showdown between aggressive finisher Yohan Lidon (79-32-1, 50 KO’s) of Lyon-Saint-Fons, France and three-time champion Michael Badato (31-16, 22 KO’s) of Blacktown, New South Wales Australia.
