Bloody Elbow is on location in Oklahoma and got some final words from the key players before the big showdown.
DAVIT KIRIA, Lightweight Champion (22-9, 7 KO’s)
“I’ve got the world lightweight title and it is going to stay with me fight after fight. I am not giving it up for anyone. It is true that Robin has two decision wins over me but the first fight I was quite new to kickboxing and we made a mistake in our gameplan for the second one. Friday night I get revenge and I stay champion.”
ROBIN VAN ROOSMALEN, Lightweight title challenger (32-6, 19 KO’s)
“Saturday morning I will wake up as the lightweight champion of the world. Kiria is very tough but I think his game is pretty straightforward. This fight is five rounds but that doesn’t make any difference – my earliest career fights were always five rounds, I like that distance. The two previous fights I won by decision, this time I think I can knock him out. I am not planning to go the distance.”
LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDER TOURNAMENT
SAULO CAVALARI (28-2, 18 KO’s)
“I’m ready to do whatever it takes to win this tournament. Any amount of pain, any amount of suffering. This is my dream, this is what I live for every day. I’ve struggled for this moment my whole life. I come from the favela and I have got nothing to lose. I will be a champion if it kills me.”
DANYO ILUNGA (56-5, 44 KO’s)
“I worked hard to be the number one fighter in this category. Then suddenly I was pushed down the rankings when Tyrone Spong and Gokhan Saki dropped down from heavyweight. That made me furious. Now Saki has the world title belt and I want it. First I win this tournament, then I face Saki and take back my position at the top of this division.”
ZACK MWEKASSA (11-1, 10 KO’s)
“I come from the Congo in Africa. I had to flee because of the civil war – the rebels wanted me to join their army and when I refused they threatened to kill me. I have been shot. I have been stabbed. I have survived a volcano eruption and being poisoned by one of the world’s most venomous snakes. Do you think I am worried about fighting a human being in a boxing ring? There is not a man alive who can scare me.”
BRIAN COLLETTE (21-2, 18 KO’s)
“I want to be the alpha male, I want to dominate my opponents and this weight class. My competitive instincts are so strong. All I want to do is win and I will do whatever it takes to get there. I have sacrificed so much to get here. I’m going to win this tournament and bring the GLORY Contender Cup to America, then I’m going after the world title.”
CO-MAIN EVENT: MIDDLEWEIGHT SUPERFIGHT
WAYNE BARRETT (5-1, 4 KO’s)
“Jason Wilnis has a strong Dutch kickboxing style. Great right hand and a killer inside leg kick. Other than that? I don’t know. I do know that on Friday night he is going to find out who I am. He is going to know what Wayne Barrett is about and what Wayne Barrett can do.”
“[Middleweight champion] Artem Levin couldn’t knock Wilnis out so if I can do that, or put a real beating on him, I think that says a lot about me being a contender and lining me up for a fight with Levin and a crack at the world title.”
JASON WILNIS (22-4-1, 6 KO’s)
“My last fight was a split-decision loss. I don’t think the decision was right, I think it should have gone my way, but there is no point crying about it. I should have finished the fight but I wasn’t aggressive enough. This time I have to show what I am capable of. This time you’ll see the real Jason Wilnis – power and aggression.”
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