Matt 'Matics' Embree (39-8, 46 KO's) came up short in his attempt to take the featherweight belt at GLORY 37 LOS ANGELES last week, his fight with Robin van Roosmalen (37-7, 21 KO's) being stopped in the fourth round by referee 'Big' John McCarthy.
“I was really disappointed with the stoppage. I didn't feel I was done at all, I wanted to keep going. He tagged me with a good body shot but I didn't drop, you know? I was trying to angle and hide the body so he couldn't find it. But its my bad,” reflects a disappointed Embree.
Embree looked impressive in the fight and had moments of success, but it was his misfortune to be facing a Van Roosmalen who presently seems to be at the peak of his powers. The former two-division champion put on a clinic of low kicks and combination work.
“I definitely should have been blocking the low kicks. He is definitely an amazing fighter, Robin is the man. He put a lot of pressure, I thought I was dealing with it pretty good, keeping him long with the jab,” says Embree.
“I didn't let my power shots go as much as I would have liked but you have to be careful with a guy like him, he hits really hard. He chopped my leg really good, he was continuously attacking it... I wasn't ready to go down [in the fourth] but it is what it is.”
Now that the dust has settled Embree will turn his attentions towards learning the lessons of the fight and using that to make himself a better fighter than he was before it.
“I have to look at the loss on the positive side, which is me getting better as a fighter, that's what the art of fighting is all about. You have to go back to the drawing board - where was the strategy wrong, what was he doing that was so good?” he says.
“To me its about what I didn't do rather than what my opponent did to me. I don't blame external forces or whatever. I didn't do what I should have done and that's why he won.
“He's definitely one of the best in the world. Robin has been at the top level for how long? But I know in my heart I can beat him. I felt like I was winning the first three rounds. He tagged me yeah but I wanted to keep going, I think I could have kept going.
“Robin is one of the best in the world but at this level we are all that. The difference between wins and losses is not inches is millimetres. One little mistake you make in there can be the difference. Next time I feel like I will get him.”
The GLORY 37 headliner was a title fight, but only for Embree, because Van Roosmalen missed weight the day before and was automatically stripped of the featherweight belt under the applicable rules. Van Roosmalen will fight for the vacant belt in his next appearance, against an opponent yet to be determined.
GLORY's next event takes place Friday, February 24 at the Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates in Chicago, Illinois.
GLORY 38 CHICAGO is headlined by a light-heavyweight championship rubber match between current champion Artem Vakhitov and former champion Saulo Cavalari. In the Superfight Series headliner, Benjamin Adegbuyi faces off with Anderson 'Braddock' Silva in a heavyweight battle.
