Alan Scheinson came in on late notice to replace Harut Grigorian against Murthel Groenhart but still managed to find time to get under Groenhart's skin, going head to head with him at the weigh-ins and prompting a furious physical reaction from 'The Predator'.
Following their weigh-in scuffle both fighters spat verbal venom about each other. Groenhart said he would punish Scheinson for his lack of respect and Scheinson, who felt Groenhart was in the wrong, said he wanted to “break his face”.
That heat carried over into the fight as the two went at each other in a fight that was at times almost frantic. The action bubbled away constantly and would then suddenly explode into a flurry of limbs as the two threw punches and kicks with bad intentions.
Groenhart has much more experience at the top level of kickboxing but Scheinson was by no means intimidated. He came to fight and he came to win. He gave Groenhart plenty of problems throughout the fight, but Groenhart always managed to weather the storm and get back into the driving seat.
One danger for Groenhart, which has also been a feature in previous career fights, was when his run of full-power combinations drained his gas tank. At that point Scheinson was able to threaten him and land power shots of his own. But for most of the fight Scheinson, while spirited, found himself outgunned.
Nonetheless it was a close fight, packed with aggression from both sides. The judges were split on deciding a winner once all three rounds were fought, with one of the five seeing it for Scheinson, one seeing it for Groenhart but giving a round to Scheinson and the other three seeing Groenhart as the winner of all three rounds.
Groenhart is now calling for a fight with the winner of the welterweight title fight between champion Cedric Doumbé and former champion Nieky Holzken at GLORY 42 PARIS next month.
Murthel Groenhart def. Alan Scheinson, Split Decision R3 (29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
