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The Kickboxing Panel

The Kickboxing Panel lands on MMA PLUS harder than a stiff hook from Tyrone Spong, bringing together the most educated minds in kickboxing to answer the hottest topics from the four sided ring.

In Season One:1 we look at post-GLORY 20 reaction, and delve into the biggest talking points from Dubai on Friday, April 3.

1. Why was Robin van Roosmalen seen as the underdog going into the fight with Andy Ristie?

Ahead of GLORY 20, lightweight champion Robin van Roosmalen was seen as the underdog going into a rematch with Andy Ristie mainly because “The Machine” had knocked out RvR at GLORY 12 in New York, and despite a set back against Davit Kiria, had looked dangerously unstoppable. I’ll be one of the first to hold my hand up and say I had my money on Ristie in Dubai, the brutal style which he’d showcased against Ky Hollenbeck and Steve Moxon had bolstered his claims as the number one lightweight in the world.

Dave Walsh (@Liverkickdotcom): He was the underdog because of their last encounter, I mean, Ristie was on fire that night, you know? Ristie looked unstoppable but Robin was the better man this time and more power to him.

Fraser Coffeen (@FCoffeen): Yep, the first fight is plenty of reason to make Ristie the favorite. In addition, the way the two men’s styles match up seems to favor Ristie. But RvR put on what I would argue is the best performance if his career, Ristie did not match him, and we got the upset.

Michael Stets (@Michael_Stets): RvR was the underdog because Ristie was on fire after the loss to Kiria and when they fought the first time, RvR had nothing for him. I picked Ristie and assumed the fight would go down a similar way. At the start of the fight it certainly appeared that way, but then RvR dictated where the fight took place, and once they were on his terms he took control and got the “W.”

John Joe (@johnjoeoregan): Coming off a big KO loss in which it looked like had nothing for Ristie, Van Roosmalen was written off by a lot of people. I picked Ristie to win the rematch on the basis of the multiple push kicks he hammered Van Roosmalen with in New York. I thought he would do the same, open Van Roosmalen up then get his knees and hooks going on the way to a repeat finish. I am actually quite pleased to be proven wrong though, Van Roosmalen is by far one of my favorite personalities in this sport.

2. RVR put on one of the greatest performances I have ever seen him do. And with two back-to-back dominating showings from the Dutchman, who can he face next?

After such a fantastic performance from “Pokerface,” there is really only one person who I feel the Dutchman should face. The man who many considered the pound-for-pound king prior to his knockout loss to Ristie in New York, Giorgio Petrosyan.

Dave: Giorgio Petrosyan. Period.

Fraser: Clearly Petrosyan is the answer, and I’m glad the Doctor is back in action these days, though not yet in Glory. We need him back. Now. If that doesn’t happen for whatever reason, I would like to see him rematch the totally underrated Marat Grigorian, who just barely lost a decision to Roosmalen in RvR’s run to the title.

Michael: I think a lightweight contender tournament would be likely to happen, especially since GLORY had two lightweight title fights in the last three events. How about Petrosyan (assuming he’s back), Ristie, Kiria, and let’s make it fun and throw Josh Jauncey in there and see if he can swim with the big boys.

John Joe: The obvious fight next is Petrosyan, who was world #1 for so long that he doesn’t need to do anything to justify an immediate title shot on his return. But I have heard that there is going to be a Lightweight Contender Tournament soon so perhaps that will produce the next challenger and Petrosyan will be matched with Ristie, which is another rematch people want to see.

3. As for Andy Ristie, that’s two times now he has fallen at the final hurdle. Can he ever win the championship?

It’s painful to watch for Ristie. Twice he has come evidently close to winning the championship, and both times he has fallen short. It seems he doesn’t favour five round fights so if he wants to win, he needs to forget that mindset and go in hard from the start.

Dave: I kind of love this narrative, although I’m sure that Andy Ristie hates it. I heard stuff about an injury going into the fight, and also maybe the glove thing threw him off, but that’s all a part of the game. I don’t think that we’ve heard the last of Andy Ristie the title contender, though.

Fraser: Ristie can be very inconsistent, up and down, hot and cold, etc. I had thought that was past him, but I was wrong. That said, I don’t agree with this narrative. At Glory 12, Ristie beat Petrosyan, he beat van Roosmalen, Glory handed him a belt and called him champion. The company happened to rebrand their titles after that, but Ristie clearly WAS the top dog and champion in the aftermath of Glory 12. I view the Kiria fight as more of a defense of that #1 status than a fight to crown the inaugural champ. So for my money he has reached the top of the mountain. And he can do it again. To me the big question is – can he stay there? And my answer is no, not unless he changes some things.

Michael: Ristie will be back. He put out that FB post about his arm, and he mentioned to me he was really hurting after the first and couldn’t punch with his left. Aside from that, if we are going to go on what we saw at GLORY 20, he looked great in the beginning and then chose to fight RvR in a phone booth, which as we all know does not favor him. Once RvR was able to take up residence inside the pocket, it was all downhill from there. That being said, Ristie won’t ever be too far away from the title picture and we have all seen how great he can be. There wasn’t an official lightweight belt when he finished Petrosyan and RvR at GLORY 12, or he’d have won one already. That’s as good as a championship in my opinion.

John Joe: It depends which Andy Ristie turns up in the fight. To make any kind of prediction i would need a 24hr live feed of the entire eight week training camp plus a detailed report on which side of the bed Ristie got out of on the day of the fight.

4. Moving to the Brits, Chi Lewis-Parry and Chad Sugden made great impressions at GLORY 20. With Lewis-Parry clearly ready for a top ten name who should he face? and thoughts on Sugden vs. Raymond Daniels at GLORY 21?

As a Brit myself, seeing both men who I have followed for a number of years be successful was great. Obviously, Chi Lewis-Parry has dominated Asian MMA over in ONE FC, and looked well over-matched against Park. Top ten is a heavy ask. He has a bit of beef with Xavier Vigeny so depending how the All-American heavyweight tournament goes down in GLORY 21 that could be a great fight.

Chad Sugden is a fighter from my home town. The Sugden family has a rich history in kickboxing, and it’s going to take something big to stop him. Can that be Raymond Daniels? Maybe, Daniels is an extremely awkward fighter, but as we have seen with his two defeats to “Bazooka Joe” and Neiky Holzken, two men who have superb boxing, and didn’t give him space to show off. I feel Chad can do that too.

Dave: He’s ready for a top ten name? I don’t see it, sorry. Heavyweight is full of heavy hitters and he fought a guy that was brought in to lose and make him look good. I kind of want to see Chad back down in weight, honestly, but if he’s comfortable here then he should keep going. He’s still growing as a fighter and he’s one to watch.

Fraser: I like Sugden and am glad he’s in Glory, but Daniels is too much too soon. Daniels is a guy Glory likes to feed highlight reel victims to on a semi-regular basis (and for good reason – those KOs are awesome), and sadly, I think that’s Sugden’s role at Glory 21. He has a fine future in the organization – but this is not the time for a Daniels fight. As for Lewis-Parry, he’s a charismatic HW with KO power, which is appealing. But he’s also pretty raw. Pair him with a top 10 guy like Kharitonov, Silva, Gerges, etc and his lack of experience will show. My pick: Pat Barry. Barry is a pretty decent barometer test for Chi right now – and if he KO’s HD impressively, then Glory can really start building him up.

Michael: I’m with Dave on this one, I don’t think Parry is ready for the deep end of the pool just yet. Park was a ham and egger served on a platter for him. I like his personality and he is a physical specimen. However, I’m not against seeing him against someone in the bottom half of the top ten like Brestovac or Edwards. I disagree with Fraser on Pat Barry. I don’t think a win over him means much at this point for anyone fighting him. I thought Barry should’ve gotten a shot in the American heavyweight tournament.

Sugden looked awesome. I really like his style and he is tough, smart and fundamentally sound. And at 20 years old, his ceiling is quite high. He is young, but I favor him against Daniels at GLORY 21. I see “Too Slick” not allowing Daniels enough room to operate and I think he will be able to cut off the ring and do solid damage on the exchanges and walk away with a decision victory in San Diego. We won’t be seeing another Francois Ambang devastation, although GLORY is hoping for one.

John  Joe: Lewis-Parry set a record for fastest GLORY knockout on his debut so congratulations to him for that. His finish of Park was brutal. He is open to a Top Ten fight – he’s already called Rico Verhoeven out on Twitter as well! – but there’s the start of a beef with Xavier Vigney right now and thats a good fight for them both at this stage. It depends how Vigney does in the GLORY 21 tournament. Lewis-Parry would have been a good fit for that tournament without the All-American stipulation.

Sugden impressed me as well. He had no issues with Arslan so clearly he is ready for this stage. He has experience against guys with Daniels’ style so as much as i think the fight could be a tall order, Sugden is a ballsy, talented kid and I would not be surprised if he pulled it off. But if that fight can’t happen then Jonathan Oliveira holds a win over Arslan as well and is a mid-tier guy so maybe that would make a logical match up. I think Sugden wins that one handily.