Andy âThe Machineâ Ristie shocked the world in the grand final of the GLORY 12 NEW YORK Lightweight Championship Tournament, knocking out Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin Van Roosmalen to capture the tournament belt and the $150,000 grand prize.
âI told everybody before this tournament that I would be number one. I knew I was going to win,â said Ristie afterwards. âI trained really hard for this fight. I have a difficult style for people to fight against and I have the power to knock anybody out.
âWhen Petrosyan went down I knew he was finished, I could feel it as soon as I hit him. I was really happy. People didnât give me a chance in this fight but I proved them wrong. And I had the right tactics to beat Robin.
âWho gave me the biggest problem? None of them. I didnât have a problem with either of them. I was in control. But I like how Robin fights. I donât like to watch Petrosyanâs fighting, he doesnât like to have a war.â
Not only is Ristieâs prize money the biggest purse of his career - âIâm going to spend it on some special things,â he smiles - his achievement is also something which will go into the record books. Tonight he stopped the #1 and #2-ranked lightweight kickboxers in the world, back to back.
Tournament Final: Andy Ristie vs. Robin Van Roosmalen
On paper, Ristie is a nightmare for a fighter like Van Roosmalen and so it proved. The fight depended on whether Van Roosmalen could bridge the gap and get inside Ristieâs reach to land his power-bombs. For the most part, he couldnât.
Ristie kept Van Roosmalen at bay with long straight shot, including push kicks to the jaw over and over. Then he would flip the script and step in close, hammering knees into Van Roosmalenâs torso then pushing him away and re-establishing distance.
Van Roosmalen did get some good shots in here and there and he staggered Ristie at least once. Moments of the fight were absolute wars, the two of them standing right in front of each other and throwing long combinations with savage ferocity.
Semi Final Two: Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Andy Ristie
Giorgio Petrosyan went in with a 78-1-1 record, with the loss coming by way of controversial decision in Thailand six years ago. He came out with a 78-2-1 record after Ristie knocked him out in the third round of their contest.
To say that Ristie shocked the world would be an understatement. Shots of the Madison Square Garden venue showed a stunned crowd stood in silence, mouths open, struggling to process what they had just witnessed.
From the outset it had looked like it was going to be one of Petrosyanâs tougher fights. Ristie is one of the most unorthodox fighters in the sport, so much so that his style has been described as âweirdpawâ. For a master technician like Petrosyan, timing and anticipation are everything. Normally he can read his opponents like a book. Tonight he found out that Ristie is written in hieroglyphics.
Petrosyan probably edged the first round thanks to his point-scoring and damage-evasion, but he started to look flustered in round two as Ristie went after him hard. Often fighters will try and draw Petrosyan into a war, be foiled, and then go back to playing a technical game with him. Ristie wasnât taking no for an answer.
The result was that, for the first time anybody can remember, Petrosyan was forced to fight somebody elseâs fight. Ristie backed him into the ropes and let rip with a hard left hook to the body. Petrosyan dropped his arm with the impact, leaving himself open for a hook to the head which knocked him clean out.
At first a huge cheer went up, as it does for any knockout, but it was quickly followed by a deathly silence as the audience made sense of what they had just seen. Not only was Petrosyan finished, but it was the first time anybody can remember him even being knocked down.
Semi-Final One: Robin Van Roosmalen vs. Kiria
Robin Van Roosmalen, ranked #1 in the world after racking up wins in 2013, booked himself a spot in the final by beating karate stylist Davit Kiria. Their semi-final fight was a tough battle. Van Roosmalen and Kiria are both fighters who like to go forward and get into heavy exchanges.
The first round was close, Kiriaâs trademark relentlessness on display. By the second Van Roosmalen was landing cleaner, harder shots and Kiria started to flag as the hits took their toll. The pace was high throughout the whole fight but Van Roosmalen looked to be handling it better. As the fight wore on it seemed Kiria was increasingly struggling for ideas.
Van Roosmalen can knock anyone out but it never looked like it was going to happen with Kiria. The ridiculously tough Georgian absorbed some massive shots without blinking. His lead leg was kicked black and blue but he soldiered through it thanks to his stoic karate training.
The judges gave the first round to Kiria, the remaining two to Van Roosmalen. There was no protest from Kiria. By round three it was obvious he had lost the fight and he now stands 0-2 against Van Roosmalen, who took a 29-28 win on all three judgeâs cards.
Tournament Reserve Fight: Ky Hollenbeck vs. Warren Stevelmans
This fight was absolute domination from Hollenbeck. He set a pace which overwhelmed Stevelmans and did pretty much whatever he wanted with him for the whole fight.
Massive hand combinations rocked Stevelmans repeatedly. Hollenbeck would then move in and set up a clinch, throwing hard knees into the midsection and taking Stevelmansâ energy away.
There were a couple of moments when Hollenbeck did look to be in some trouble, notably at the start o the second went Stevelmans charged into him looking to make a war out of it, clearly having no chance of winning the technical game.
Hollenbeck got rocked a couple of times but came through the scares instantly, handing the punishment right back to Stevelmans twofold. Such was Hollenbeckâs dominance that he was able to hit a spinning backfist around six times over the course of the fight; it takes confidence to try that move even once.
As the two fighters waited for the result to be announced, Hollenbeck stood draped in the Stars and Stripes. The scores came back as 30-27 on all three judgesâ cards, a unanimous decision in Hollenbeckâs favor.
Part of his mission is to force the kickboxing world to recognize that America is now a force. By beating a veteran like Stevelmans, and having dominated a huge name in Albert Kraus at GLORY 10, Hollenbeck is flying the flag high for the US kickboxing community.
Joe âStitch Em Upâ Schilling vs. Wayne Barrett
Middleweight
The headline fight of GLORY 12 had it all - two talented fighters, two bitter rivals, a West Coast/East Coast rivalry and a style vs. style clash which pitted Schillingâs background in Muay Thai against Barrettâs background as a Golden Gloves amateur boxer.
It was obvious from the first round that this would be a serious battle between two fighters who donât like each other all that much. There had been significant trash-talking from Schilling in the build-up and Barrett, who had maintained a dignified silence for the most part, was ready to answer back at last.
No decisive advantage came out until the second round, when Barrett was able to land some clean punches and drop Schilling. The New York crowd was entirely behind Barrett and cheered wildly as Schilling regained his feet looking groggy. They went wild when he got dropped for a second time shortly afterwards.
Schilling needed a stoppage in the third if he wanted to win the fight and he nearly got it, landing a knee on Barrett which put him down. Barrett looked unsteady but he beat the count to get back into the fight and battle it out until the final bell. The judges saw the fight his way, putting him in the lead two rounds to one for a unanimous decision win.
Barrett now rises to 4-0 as a professional following a successful amateur career. The win is huge but the rivalry is probably not done yet. Barrett and Schilling are sure to rematch at some point in the future, possibly in 2014. In the meantime, Barrett has announced himself as a serious force on the middleweight scene.
Jamal Ben Saddik vs. Ben Edwards
Heavyweight
With two of the heaviest fighters on the GLORY roster slugging it out, this one was never likely to go the distance. In fact it did go longer than might have been expected, thanks to Ben Saddik playing a clever and mobile game to make maximum use of his height advantage.
Shorter, stockier Edwards had to try and get in range to unload his bombs. Ben Saddik made it difficult for him, keeping him on the outside and punishing him with knees when he did manage to get on the inside. Edwards was cut and bloodied going into round three.
He still had fire in him though, and it seemed like his fitness might be better than Ben Saddikâs. Something changed suddenly in the middle of the third round and it was Ben Saddik on the back foot. What looked to be a certain decision victory turned into a defensive action as Edwards went after him.
A hard exchange against the ropes had Ben Saddik in trouble. Edwards saw it and unloaded, landing huge blow after huge blow. The ropes saved Ben Saddik from going down until his legs completely gave way. He crashed to the canvas and was counted out by the referee to give Edwards one of the yearâs biggest comeback wins.
GLORY 12 NEW YORK: FULL RESULTS
Headline Fight
Wayne Barrett defeats Joe Schilling by Unanimous Decision (30-26 an all three cards)
Co-Headline Fight
Ben Edwards defeats Jamal Ben Saddik by KO, R3, 2:52
Tournament Final
Andy Ristie defeats Robin van Roosmalen by KO, R2, 1:45
Semi Final One
Robin van Roosmalen defeats Davit Kiria by Unanimous Decision (29-28 on all three cards)
Semi Final Two
Andy Ristie defeats Giorgio Petrosyan by KO, R3, 0:43.
Tournament Reserve Bout
Ky Hollenbeck defeats Warren Stevelmans by Unanimous Decision (30-26 an all three cards)
