Bailey Sugden (9-1, 2 KO’s) comes from a fighting family. He was present as a five-year-old when his father won a world title in kickboxing and, now 19, he has two brothers who are all professionals. Chad Sugden fought for GLORY two years ago before switching to professional boxing and Regis Sugden is an MMA fighter who presently competes for UK league BAMMA.
Arthur Sorsor (17-8-1, 7 KO’s) is something of a world citizen. Born in Liberia, his family moved to the US when he was a youngster, but at the moment he lives in Thailand and does his training there. Both he and Sugden were making their GLORY debuts in this featherweight division fight.
The two fighters were starkly contrasted: Sugden is verbally outspoken and physically lithe. Sorsor is heavily muscled and taciturn. But they both have high-level skills and good stamina, which made for an entertaining clash.
Sugden’s boxing was his key advantage in this bout. His better handwork, evasiveness and control of distance meant that in the first half of the fight he was often able to make Sorsor miss or force him to throw from further out, where the attack could be seen and evaded.
Only when he slowed down was Sorsor able to start getting through the outer layer of defense and onto the inside, where he looked to land power shots. Sugden’s defensive game is tight though and Sorsor found few scoring opportunities for himself.
Throughout the fight Sugden was digging into his bag of tricks, pulling out back kicks, spinning back fists, heel kicks and more, showcasing impressive variety alongside his solid boxing fundamentals.
Clean boxing work, good combinations and a high level of output all added up for Sugden on the judge’s scorecards. After three rounds he was awarded a unanimous decision victory and will now move forward in his campaign to climb the rankings.
Bailey Sugden def. Arthur Sorsor, Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
