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GLORY 31
Credit GLORY Sports International/James Law

It’s one of the most imperative rematches in modern kickboxing history, on June 25, Robin van Roosmalen defends his GLORY Lightweight title against Sittichai Sitsongpeenong at GLORY 31: Amsterdam.

GLORY Kickboxing return to the Amsterdam Rai on Saturday night with a decisive Lightweight title main event to settle a dispute almost eight months in the making. On November, 6 2015, van Roosmalen and Sittichai fought in Monza, Italy in a bout where the Dutchman won a 48-47 unanimous decision.

The scorecards however, failed to reflect what the majority believed to be a definitive win for Thailand’s Sittichai. The Sitsongpeenong trained fighter used his left leg kick well to prevent RvR from fighting on the inside; a major part of his career success. Sittichai also used his left knee strikes to keep van Roosmalen on his toes, prohibiting him to find a state of comfort throughout.

Although neither fighter displayed much physical damage, it was Sittichai’s activity from the get-go which theoretically should have won him the fight. Regardless of how it was perceived, RvR won the contest, he remained champion and he lived to defend the gold another day. At GLORY 31, 26-year-old van Roosmalen will have the opportunity to erase the confusion that has embroiled kickboxing since the end of last year.

To earn the rematch, Sittichai competed in the GLORY 28 Lightweight Contender Tournament, where he easily beat Davit Kiria and Marat Grigorian.

The champion will have to fight more aggressively this time around to silence the doubters, there were glimpses during the first match-up where “Pokerface” RvR looked like he could find some success fighting inside the pocket. If he can increase his volume and find a way on the inside, then van Roosmalen’s effectiveness could increase ten-fold.

Of course, the biggest issue is whether or not van Roosmalen can close the distance and stop Sittichai using his push kick to control the range. Sittichai’s most effective attack is the left high kick, left knee combination, this is what the Thai used to finish Kiria in their GLORY 22 bout. At the start of the fight van Roosmalen defended it well, but as the bout progressed and the Dutchman tired, Sittichai found more success.

To erase any chances of another contentious decision, Sittichai – although likely to be the more lively fighter – must prove to be more productive with his strikes. In the GLORY rules, after knockdowns, ‘damage inflicted on the opponent’ is the second highest criteria when it comes to scoring, in the first fight Sittichai may may have caused slight bruising on the arm of van Roosmalen, but he failed to visibly hurt the champion anywhere else.

In contrast, a win for van Roosmalen could not only spell the end of his feud with Sittichai, but his time as a 70kg fighter too, with the impending rumour that he could soon make the move to Featherweight.

In the GLORY 31 co-main event, “Mr. Pain” Ismael Londt faces the returning Hesdy Gerges. Also, Yoann Kongolo vs. Harut Grigorian and Murthel Groenhart vs. Karim Benmansour in the Welterweight Contender Tournament, with the winner set to face Holzken for the GLORY Welterweight World Championship at a later date.

GLORY 31: Amsterdam Card
Lightweight Title Headline Bout: Robin van Roosmalen (c) vs. Sittichai
Welterweight Tournament Final Bout: Winner of Bout A vs. Winner of Bout B
Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout: Ismael Londt vs. Hesdy Gerges
Welterweight Tournament Semi-Final Bout B: Yoann Kongolo vs. Harut Grigorian
Welterweight Tournament Semi-Final Bout A: Murthel Groenhart vs. Karim Benmansour

Image Credit GLORY Sports International/James Law