Video: Raymond Daniels’ impeccable knockout of Francois Ambang at GLORY 16

There’s a reason why Raymond Daniels has black belts in American kempo and shotokan, as well as a fifth degree black belt in taekwondo.

And if he ever needed an excuse to showcase his flamboyant traits in the striking game, he certainly got one in his tussle with Francois Ambang in the preliminary Super Fight Series of the GLORY 16 fight card last weekend.

We’ve seen plenty of knockouts under the GLORY banner to date, let alone in Mixed Martial Arts, Muay Thai, whatever. But this particular finish from Daniels was exemplary. Astonishing. At the least, I could take out my dictionary and conjure up over a dozen adjectives to describe what he did. It was that good.

It was fair to say that Daniels was, in fact, getting the better of Ambang in the contest right up until he did the unthinkable. The 34-year-old took proceedings in his stride from the get-go, displaying his trademark erratic movement and kicking game with Ambang walking him down.

Daniels, who came under fire for his lack of Boxing skills and low-kick defense following his outing against Joe Valtellini at GLORY 13, made a positive impression this time around by checking Ambang’s low-kick attempts.

Then, after a wild exchange near one of the corners of the ring, Daniels’ overhand right toppled Ambang onto the canvas. Ambang managed to get back on his feet but was clearly on wobbly legs. It didn’t seem as though the American had recovered completely from that onslaught.

And that eventually set forth the incredible finish – Daniels feinted, and moved in for the kill with a scintillating side kick turned mid-air spinning heel-kick that connected flush on Ambang’s jaw, knocking him out senseless.

It was the kind of ‘stuff’ that one would usually see in video games.

Suffice to say, Daniels etched his name in the record books with the finish, which of course, drew raptures and pandemonium in the crowd.

If there’s indeed one more thing we can take from this, it’s that once again, it just shows us how unpredictable GLORY’s events are. From Andy Ristie’s shock upset knockout victory over kingpin Giorgio Petrosyan, to David Kiria’s unbelievable come-from-behind victory over Ristie in the latter’s first title defense, and now Daniels’ highlight reel finish… well folks, do you need any more reasons to catch GLORY’s installments?

I believe not.

Here’s the video of Raymond Daniels’ knockout over Francois Ambang:

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*For full GLORY 16 results, click here. 

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