In the semi-finals of the tournament Sitthichai stopped former champion Davit Kiria, an impressive feat considering Kiria has previously demonstrated unkillable levels of toughness and has never before been stopped in a kickboxing match.
Sitthichai then dominated the rising young Canadian talent Josh Jauncey in the tournament final, though it has to be noted that there is a gulf of experience between the two and Jauncey is far from written off. In fact he is also fighting at GLORY 25 MILAN, against no less a personage than former world #1 Giorgio Petrosyan.
The lightweight title fight between Van Roosmalen (34-6-0, 19 KO’s) and Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (99-27-5, 26 KO’s) is an interesting match on a number of levels, not least because it is the epitome of style vs. style.
Van Roosmalen is a textbook example of the Dutch kickboxing style, a flurry puncher and volume leg-kicker. Sitthichai, trained in his native Thailand from a young age, is a master of some of Muay Thai’s most fundamental weapons. His left body-kick is already infamous and his knees are very dangerous too.
GLORY today confirmed the title match by way of a press release.
“I’m going to pressure [Sitthichai]. He doesn’t like being put under pressure and pushed backwards,” Van Roosmalen is quoted as saying. “It will be a great fight and I look forward to keeping hold of this belt for a long time.”
Southpaw-standing Sitthichai had his own observations to make: “It is very difficult for an orthodox-stance fighter to withstand the the damage from my powerful left kicks. [Van Roosmalen] is tough and has good heart; he will be harder to hurt than my past opponents. He is also dangerous, a heavy puncher.”
GLORY 25 MILAN takes place Friday, November 6 at The PalaIper in Monza, Milan, Italy. The event also hosts a four-man Welterweight Contender Tournament, the winner of which will earn a shot at GLORY Welterweight World Champion Nieky Holzken.
In the meantime GLORY’s next event takes place Friday October 9 in Denver, Colorado and sees Los Angeles man Joe ‘Stitch Em Up’ Schilling take on rising Dutch challenger Jason ‘Psycho’ Wilnis in a fight which could well produce the next middleweight title challenger.
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