GLORY 29 results: Nieky Holzken defeats Yoann Kongolo by unanimous decision to retain welterweight title, calls out Joeseph Valtellini

In his 100th professional fight, GLORY welterweight champion, Nieky Holzken (89-11) extended his win streak to 10 straight by defeating Yoann Kongolo (61-7) at GLORY 29 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Holzken, 32, earned a unanimous decision inside Forum Copenhagen on Saturday (April 16, 2016) in a highly-competitive battle. Two judges scored the bout 49-46 and the third judge had the bout 48-47.

"The Natural" had his hand full at times with Kongolo, and he caught a huge break as a spinning-back kick by Kongolo--which landed flush to the liver--floored him in the third round, but was not ruled a knockdown. Kongolo landed several nice uppercuts early and was bringing the fight to Holzken throughout, but in the championship rounds, Holzken separated himself from the No.3-ranked challenger and did what he had to do to retain his title. The champion landed some timely combinations and knee strikes in the final two rounds to seal the deal. Kongolo fought hard, but began to fade late. It certainly would've been interesting had he been awarded the knockdown in the third.

The win is Holzken's second consecutive title defense since defeating Raymond Daniels to win it at GLORY 23 last August.

"I trained very hard to go for the win, of course. I think Kongolo did a very good job. He is a strong opponent, and if he wants I will face him again in the future," Holzken told "Bazooka" Joe Valtellini after the fight.

When Valtellini asked the champion who should be next, Holzken called him out.

"I see you as the next opponent, you. You have to come back and then we finish business," Holzken told Valtellini.

Valtellini responded saying, "I think I would love that. The fans would love it."

He turned the focus back to Holzken and when he asked another question, the champion interrupted with, "You should start training."

"I've been training. Don't worry about it," said Valtellini, who hasn't fought in almost two years since winning the welterweight title at GLORY 17 due to being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. Not the classiest of moves by Holzken, who either doesn't respect Valtellini's condition, or is ignorant to the serious nature of it. "Bazooka Joe" remained professional and finished the interview, but it's likely he was very irritated by Holzken's call out.

In the co-main event, featherweight champion Serhiy Adamchuk (33-5) moved up a weight class on short notice to take on Mohammed El-Mir (113-22) and picked up routine victory.

All three judges scored the fight 30-27.

Adamchuk took advantage of the linear style of El-Mir, and used his footwork to circle out each time his strikes connected over the course of the fight. Impressive performance by Adamchuk who picks up his second straight him in a month's time.

Ismael Londt (38-6-1) defeated Anderson "Braddock" Silva (39- 14-1) and Jaharr Wilnis (29-7-1) to win the GLORY 29 heavyweight "Contender" tournament and Ramon Dekkers memorial trophy.

In the final, Londt won a razor-close split decision over WIlnis that was questioned by many. The judges scored the fight 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

Londt looked sloppy early on and was wild with jumping knees and big overhands, while Wilnis was staying tight and landing with low kicks and jabs. Londt scored also, but Wilnis looked more in control.

In the second round, Wilnis had "Mr. Pain" in deep trouble but could not knock him down. He landed a pair of uppercuts that had a visibly tired Londt on rubber legs and it looked like he was seizing full control of the fight. In the final round, Wilnis looked to be winning again and Londt looked to be a punch away from getting dropped several times in the final round. In the end, only one judge scored it for Wilnis.

Londt will face GLORY heavyweight champion, Rico Verhoeven next.

"I have to do better to beat Rico," Londt told Valtellini after the fight. "Rico thanks for the motivation."

Londt punched his ticket to the tournament final with a majority decision victory over Silva in the semi-finals. Two of the judges scored it 29-27 and the third judge scored it 28-28.

Silva looked to be taking command early, but Londt landed a very timely knockdown in the final round when he connected with a big right hand, which proved to be the difference in the fight.

In the opening round of the opposing tournament bracket, Wilnis fought his fight over the course of 15 minutes and advanced to the tournament final with a unanimous decision victory over Kirill Kornilov (7-2). All three judges scored it 29-28 for Wilnis. The young Russian prospect held his own, but Wilnis was a touch too savvy for him and simply landed more throughout the course of the bout.