In the main event at Glory 18, Robin van Roosmalen defeated Davit Kiria to become the 2nd Glory Lightweight champion. This was Kiria’s first defense of the belt after claiming it with a win over Andy Ristie at Glory 14.
Roosmalen went into the fight with a 2-0 record against Kiria, and he used the same combination of speed, volume, and accuracy to outpoint Kiria over the course of 5 grueling, hard fought rounds. But it wasn’t easy; after dropping rounds 1 and 2, Kiria almost scored another miracle comeback win, dropping Roosmalen in the 3rd and evening the fight up heading into the championship rounds. The 4th round was close, with Roosmalen again taking control and taking the 5th. In the end, he took a majority decision victory, 48-46, 48-46, 47-47.
Post-fight, Roosmalen stated that with the win and the belt he was the #1 Lightweight in the world. But hanging over his championship reign are two names – Andy Ristie and Giorgio Petrosyan, the two men who have defeated him in Glory.
At the post-fight press conference, matchmaker Cor Hemmers addressed the questions of Roosmalen’s next opponent, stating that it would come from a contender tournament, likely to include Andy Ristie and Davit Kiria.
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