Glory 25: The Return of Petrosyan

Glory is having a rough time of it.

At Bellator Dynamite, an over funded and under viewed event to begin with, Spike TV managed to do an abysmal job of advertising kickboxing by allowing Glory to put on three kickboxing bouts, two of which were between MMA fighters. Whether that was something specifically requested by Bellator or Spike, or whether it was a miscalculation by Glory management, it did nothing to make the sport look exciting. Last week, it was announced that Spike TV would be dropping Glory from its programming.

Now Glory has made a few missteps in recent history and has struggled to provide the financial incentive to get Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki, and many of the other recognizable kickboxing superstars to sign more fights with the promotion. With that being said, Glory's roster still contains a number of incredible fighters from Andy Ristie to Nieky Holzken and beyond.

At Glory 25: Milan, a number of the finest strikers on the planet will ply their trade and the fight fan should consider investing his time in the card.

Dutch Style versus Thai Style

The main event features Glory lightweight champion, Robin van Roosmalen against Thai sensation, Sittichai Sitsongpeenong. The champ has been with the organization since the first Glory card and has become the only man to successfully defend the lightweight title.

A bread and butter combination striker who thrives with close range counter combinations, RVR has pushed through early stumbles to become the fighter he is today. In the final of the first Glory lightweight tournament in 2012, Van Roosmalen was completely flummoxed and made to look daft by Giorgio Petrosyan. A year later, Van Roosmalen found himself on the end of a devastating second round knockout as he became part of Andy Ristie's one night knockout tour through Glory's second lightweight tournament.

After a split decision over now K-1 70kg champion, Marat Grigorian, Van Roosmalen took a majority decision over Davit Kiria to take the Glory lightweight title. Finally, RVR avenged his loss against Ristie with a unanimous decision over five rounds.

Van Roosmalen is not the kind of striker I typically praise in my articles, because he relies so heavily on covering up behind his gloves and takes so many blows against his guard with no real effort to move out of the way. While this makes him terrific against opponents who are going to stand in front of him and attempt to force blood from a stone—as Andy Ristie did—it makes him look very poor against someone with the mobility and craft of Giorgio Petrosyan. The Doctor would land a hard knee to the midsection (which is always undefended as Van Roosmalen covers up) and would either push RVR away or turn off line to re-establish the distance against the much shorter man. That being said, there's not many out there with the ringcraft of Petrosyan—well, there's one really. Van Roosmalen's results over sixty fights should tell you that catch-and=pitch has its place, even if it is not the best method for a fighter's health.

Sittichai is a relative newcomer to Glory but already has the kickboxing world talking. His knockout victory over the notoriously durable Davit Kiria turned heads even more than his victory over the young gun, Josh Jauncey in the lightweight contender tournament's final. Sittichai is familiar to anyone who has studied the great southpaw Nak Muay—Yodsanklai, Saenchai, etc—in that he loves the long left round kick to the arm, the spearing left knee, and left straights to the body. Yet the combination which put Kiria down for the count had more subtlety. A left push kick onto the ropes, followed by the left straight to the body. This is when most fighters return to an upright posture and swing in the lead right hook. Instead, as Sittichai rose back into an upright stance, he slammed the left knee straight into the same target.

Van Roosmalen's tendency to eat knees to the body, combined with Sittichai's ability to tie up are enough to make most pessimistic about Van Roosmalen's chances, but walking forward and attacking with volume has carried him to wins over better known opponents in the past.

Returning Talent

The biggest story of this card, and probably the reason that it is taking place in Milan, is the return of Giorgio Petrosyan. Petrosyan was easily the finest kickboxer in the world until he ran into the awkward and unpredictable Andy Ristie in November of 2013. Suffering the only KO loss of his career, Petrosyan disappeared for a year. A couple of soft fights later, including the increasingly common fight against a nobody in China, Petrosyan is ready to come back to Glory. Ristie is in a slump and the current lightweight champion is a fighter whose is unchanging and whom Petrosyan as already picked apart. The stage is set for a Petrosyan comeback.

Petrosyan's greatest gift is in his being able to systematically take away his opponents' weapons. Through footwork and turns, through checking their blows with his hands, through his head movement, and through pushing opponents whenever they find themselves close enough to swing at him. That pushing can never be underestimated, whether it be by his short lead leg push kick or an actual two handed shove against his opponents' guard. The secret to defensive brilliance is in creating distance, and while most fighters only have one way of doing that—moving themselves away—Petrosyan has two.

Furthermore, hitting with force requires a fighter to control his own weight and throw it into the blow. No-one can do that when they're being pushed off balance. We studied this extensively in Giorgio Petrosyan and the Counter to All Strikes.

Petrosyan's opponent is no slouch either. The young and exceptionally talented Josh Jauncey. Jauncey fell short in the lightweight contender tournament against Sittichai, but he drew much praise through his systematic dismantling of Coulibay Djime earlier in the same night. Using beautiful low kicks in combination, and playing with Djime's expectations, Jauncey picked up a TKO. The fight showed Jauncey manipulating rhythm, showing Djime the end of his combinations and holding back the low kick until after Djime had picked his leg up to check and was placing it down again, or simply kicking the standing leg as Djime checked with the other. A masterclass in fight psychology, everyone should watch and enjoy that fight.

Finally, Glory featherweight champion, Gabriel Varga is a fighter I have continuously meant to write about but whom I, after searching through my archives, apparently haven't. Varga is a whirlwind of offense with flying knees, snappy traditional martial arts kicks, spinning backfists, and beautiful body work. More a boxer with some karate kicks than a traditional kickboxer, Varga remains a unique and dynamic striker in the ring. Between Jauncey and Varga, Canada's kickboxing future is in good hands.

Creative, fast, disciplined. The only quality Varga is short on just happens to be the only one which makes stars of lighter weight fighters: knockout power. If he can develop the ability to reliably finish his opponents, Varga has all the potential in the world to be a star.

Glory 25 might be the most interesting kickboxing card of the year. Don't miss your chance to support the talent of men like Petrosyan, Van Roosmalen, Sittichai, Jauncey and Varga.