GLORY kickboxing champion gets opponent for MMA debut, UFC veteran headlines card

Former GLORY kickboxing champion Tyjani Beztati officially has an opponent for his highly-anticipated MMA debut.

“The Wonderboy” made combat sports headlines a few weeks ago by announcing that he was moving on from kickboxing and GLORY to pursue a career in MMA, with his first fight set to take place at Levels Fight League 20 on November 2.

LFL 20 will take place at Mediahaven in Amsterdam, and the Dutch promotion has finally revealed that Beztati will square off with Italo Julio for his first MMA outing.

Tyjani Beztati Set For MMA Debut At LFL 20

Beztati vs. Julio will meet at lightweight and feature as the co-main event bout for LFL 20, with UFC veteran Jarno Errens set to try and defend his featherweight belt for the first time against Joziro Boye in the night’s main event.

Currently on an unbeaten run in kickboxing that began after his second GLORY lightweight title shot against Marat Grigorian in 2019, Beztati rebounded from that loss the following year before he finally claimed GLORY’s lightweight belt by defeating Elvis Gashi at GLORY 78.

Tyjani Beztati during his time with GLORY kickboxing. | (GLORY Kickboxing)

The 27-year-old ended up winning eight fights in a row and defended his lightweight belt on four occasions before fighting to a split draw in a double-champ bid against GLORY Welterweight Champion Chico Kwasi last October, and the pair once again fought to the same result when they met in a rematch in May.

Italo Julio Returns To LFL For 10th MMA Fight

Standing across from Beztati on November 2 will be nine-fight MMA veteran Julio, who actually also competed in kickboxing in his most recent outing in June and suffered a loss at the hands of Michal Bemben.

“Cyborg” began his MMA career in 2017 and scored back-to-back wins in his native Brazil before he made his LFL debut in 2023 and was stopped in the first round by Ammari Diedrick. Julio rebounded with a first-round submission against Ivan Krajinovic in Brazil’s Centurion FC, but a loss to Teddy Stringer in Cage Warriors kicked off what has now become a five-fight MMA losing streak and eight-fight losing streak overall including a pair of Muay Thai bouts and his recent kickboxing fight.

Combat sports fans will have high expectations for Beztati’s MMA debut on November 2, and it will be interesting to see how active “The Wonderboy” decides to be in 2026 after kicking off his new career path against Julio at LFL 20.

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