Largely filmed and edited by Eldar Gross, the man behind ‘The Reem’ documentary series, this video takes a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of lightweight champion Davit Kiria (22-9-0, 7 KO’s) and his challenger Robin van Roosmalen (32-6-0, 19 KO’s).
Various pundits also pop up with comments and opinions during the fifteen-minute feature, including yours truly repping the Bloody Elbow, Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting, Gareth Davies of The Telegraph and Michael ‘Stetz’ from MMA Mania.
Kiria won the belt with what was frankly a Comeback of the Millenium performance against Andy Ristie at GLORY 14 ZAGREB earlier this year.
Ristie, coming off back-to-back KO wins over Giorgio Petrosyan and Van Roosmalen, battered Kiria and gave him three rounds of hell. But he tired in the fourth while Kiria, who as an Ashihara Karate man has undergone horrendous trials of physical endurance and pain tolerance, was able to turn the tables, beating Ristie around the ring in the fourth round and stopping him in the fifth.
Since the loss to Ristie, Van Roosmalen bounced back with a win over the very good Marat Grigorian at GLORY 15 ISTANBUL, placing himself in the title shot picture once more. Interestingly he has two wins over Kiria already, one from 2011 and one from the GLORY 12 lightweight tournament in New York, both by decision.
Kiria was rather new to kickboxing in 2011 and has certainly improved lots since then, but Van Roosmalen is the bookmaker’s favorite for obvious reasons.
Neither man takes a backwards step, Van Roosmalen is ridiculously explosive, Kiria is tougher than old leather and there’s a world title on the line- I can’t see this being anything other than a Fight of the Year contender.
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