Robin van Roosmalen (39-7) retained his featherweight title at GLORY 45 on Saturday, defeating Serhiy Adamchuk (35-9) by unanimous decision inside Sporthallen Zuid in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Three judges scored the bout 48-47 and the other two scored the bout 49-46, all in favor of the champion.
Van Roosmalen, who turns 28 on October 1, kept the pressure on Adamchuk for the majority of the five-round title fight, and controlled where the action took place. Adamchuk was content on backpedalling and counter striking, but the champion’s defense proved to be tough to penetrate.
“I think we had a great game plan,” van Roosmalen told Whitney Miller after the bout. “We did everything that we usually do. I expected him to be a little more attacking like in his last fight against [Dylan] Salvador, but [I said] ‘ok, this is what we have to do.’ And we did it.”
Adamchuk, the No.1-ranked featherweight contender heading into the bout, came on strong in the fifth round, but it was too little, too late. He narrowly missed a rolling thunder kick, and connected on a few big punches, bloodying the champion’s nose while unloading with a flurry late in the final frame.
“He hit me a couple of times good, but this is kickboxing not tennis,” the champion said.
Next up for the champion will be a bout against the No.4-ranked featherweight contender Kevin VanNostrand at GLORY 48 on December 1. VanNostrand won the featherweight “Contender” tournament at GLORY 43 back in July.
Mladen Brestovac (52-12-1) obliterated Hesdy Gerges (50-19-1) with a left high kick in the opening round of the heavyweight co-main event. After a few exchanges, Brestovac landed the high kick behind the guard of Gerges, knocking him out cold for the win. The official time of the stoppage came at 0:37 of round one.
Mladen Brestovac pays homage once again to Cro-Cop with the headkick KO! #GLORY45 pic.twitter.com/O9hJqOftZz
— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) September 30, 2017
Michael Duut (42-8) knocked out both Manny Mancha (6-3) and Dragos Zubco (11-5) in a total of 48 seconds to win the light heavyweight “Contender” tournament.
Michael Duut is your #GLORY45 light heavyweight contender tournament champion! Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/KyZUktcqoZ
— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) September 30, 2017
Duut dropped Mancha with a vicious left hook in the opening seconds of the first round of the tournament final for the knockout victory. The official time of the stoppage came at 0:12 of round one.
In the semi-finals, Duut made quick work of Zubco, dropping him with a short left hook in the opening round for the TKO victory. The official time of the stoppage came at 0:36 in round one.
The second semi-final bout of the light heavyweight “Contender” tournament ended in rather bizarre fashion. Imad Hadar (19-2), who dominated Mancha the entire fight, suffered an injury to his right arm during the second round and could not continue. Referee John Axewood waived the bout off at the 1:22 mark of round two, giving Mancha the TKO win.
