LOS ANGELES–Robin van Roosmalen’s (36-6) reign as champion came to an abrupt end this afternoon when he missed weight for his scheduled GLORY 37 bout against Matt Embree (39-7).
Van Roosmalen, 27, came in over the 143-pound limit at 143.8 and was subsequently stripped of his Featherweight title, which he won after defeating Gabriel Varga at GLORY 34 in October of 2016. He did have a second opportunity to make weight, but chose not to do so.
“I’m disappointed,” van Roosmalen told Todd Grisham after the ceremonial weigh ins, which took place at Tom’s Urban, part of the L.A. Live complex. He then gave an explanation for missing weight. “We didn’t have the official scale at the hotel, so we couldn’t tell the difference between my scale and the official scale.”
“I think he knows his body,”GLORY CEO Jon Franklin told MMA Plus. “He had the opportunity to try and lose that half pound or three-quarters of a pound and he chose not to take the opportunity. He said he lost all he had. He didn’t want to cut anymore. He would go through the fight and that was it. So, a fighter knows their body and what it’s going to take. He made that choice to not try and weigh in again.”
Embree, 27, still has a chance to win the title with a victory on Friday night. Should van Roosmalen win he’d put himself in line for a another title shot.
“It is what it is,” Embree told Grisham, reacting to van Roosmalen missing weight. “We are still going to fight. I’m going to fight. I’m going to show you, who is really the best.”
Should “Pokerface” prove victorious over Embree, he will be in line for the next Featherweight title shot, Franklin said.
“If he wins the fight he is still in the game, obviously,” Franklin said, referring to van Roosmalen. “It’s sort of an odd fight. You have a fighter that can’t get the belt and a fighter that can get the belt in the same ring.”
Full results for the GLORY 37 weigh-ins can be seen below:
GLORY 37 Weigh-ins
Middleweight Title Headline Bout:
Jason Wilnis (185 lb / 83.9 kg) vs. Israel Adesanya (185.6 lb / 84.2 kg)
Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout:
Guto Inocente (264 lb / 119.7 kg) vs. D’Angelo Marshall (241.8 lb / 109.7 kg)
Welterweight Contender Tournament Bout:
Karim Benmansour (166.4 lb / 75.5 kg) vs. Alan Scheinson (169.2 lb / 76.7 kg)
Welterweight Contender Tournament Bout:
Yoann Kongolo (169.8 lb / 77 kg) vs. Konstantin Khuzin (167.4 lb / 75.9 kg)
GLORY 37 SUPERFIGHT SERIES
Featherweight Title Headline Bout:
Robin van Roosmalen (143.8 lb / 65.2 kg) vs. Matt Embree (142 lb / 64.4 kg)
Heavyweight Co-Headline Bout:
Tomas Mozny (252.6 lb / 114.6 kg) vs. Jhonata Diniz (244.2 lb / 110.8 kg)
Middleweight Bout:
Mike Lemaire (185.8 lb / 84.3 kg) vs. Warren Thompson (186.4 lb / 84.5 kg)
Catchweight (126 lb / 57.2 kg) Bout:
Zoila Frausto (125.8 lb / 57.1 kg) vs. Daniela Graf (123.6 lb / 56.1 kg)
Featherweight Bout:
Giga Chikadze (143 lb / 64.9 kg) vs. Victor Pinto (142.8 lb / 64.8 kg)