MUAY THAI: NATE RICHARDSON RETURNS TO GLORY
UPDATE: Nate Richardson lost a decision to Elvis Gashi. Richardson recovered from a first round knockdown and fought with tremendous heart, coming on as the fight progressed. It was an impressive performance that will earn him more opportunities.
Nate “The Natural” Richardson (11-2, 1-0 with Glory) of Minneapolis, MN makes his Glory return this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Richardson is seeking his second straight victory since signing with Glory Promotions last August. The Cellar Gym prospect will face undefeated Elvis Gashi (19-0) in a featured fight.
“I was still dealing with having Patellar Tendinitis in my knee so I wasn’t really able to run like I normally do in preparation for a fight. So the only thing on my mind was gassing out” said Richardson when asked to talk about the Dudek win. “My mind set was to use my lateral movement to control the fight. I saw he wasn’t going to pressure me like I saw him do in his videos, so I had to take the fight to him and establish control in the first round. He made the necessary adjustment in the second round and used his knee more which slowed me down quite a bit. By the third round, I knew we were tired and I had to make sure I won the third since he was the favorite and had the home crowd support.”
After grinding out the win, Richardson took some time off to rehab the knee injury which also allowed a
Nate Richardson (center top, right bottom) pictured with training partners Darrien Mackiel, Ken Glenn, and Bobby Lee.
pulled bicep injury (Dudek fight) to heal. Richardson is back and ready for this Friday’s featured bout in New York. His opponent, Elvis Gashi (19-0, 1-0 Glory) was born in Peje, Kosovo before moving to Belgium and then New York where he currently resides.
“My knee has healed up very fine. I would say I’m back to about 90% and I’m back to training the way I normally train for a fight. My bicep is fine now, it just needed a little rest. Training camp was great, everything is on schedule for this fight. My weight is on point and I have been able to getting my road work in as I would like. My opponent is a tough one and I’m fighting him in his own backyard. He’s 19 and 0, undefeated as a professional and has a very good amateur Record of 107 wins and only 3 losses. As for myself, I have no amateur record in kickboxing so on paper he’s the favorite. But that’s fine with me. It wouldn’t be interesting if there wasn’t a little bit of a challenge. I’m excited to put on the show in New York. Hopefully he lives up to the hype because I plan on finishing him in the third round.”