Groenhart thinks Grigorian “not mentally ready” to fight him at GLORY 41

Top welterweight Murthel Groenhart (64-22-3, 37 KO's) was certain he had secured a title shot for himself when he stopped Thongchai in the second round of their GLORY 38 CHICAGO battle earlier this year.

Instead it was determined that former champion Nieky 'The Natural' Holzken would first get the chance to revenge himself against Cedric Doumbé, who took the belt from him in an upset victory at GLORY: COLLISION in December.

Groenhart thus finds himself now in the position of being the next contender-in-waiting, but that means he cannot afford to lose between now and the title shot coming around for fear of seeing the opportunity slip through his fingers.

“Not getting a title shot is f-ked up bit these kind of things motivate me, these kind of things are what make me Murthel Groenhart. These things disappoint me but they don't make me back down, they only make me stronger,” he says.

“They say I get a title shot after this but I don't know, so I just keep winning my fights and knocking people out and then they don't have a choice, they have to give me the title shot. So I will just keep doing my job and then they have to give it to me.

“I know I am ready, I stay motivated and train hard, even with these kind of guys in front of me right now.”

By 'these kind of guys', Groenhart means Alan Scheinson (48-4, 37 KO's) an Argentinian fighter who debuted at GLORY 37 LOS ANGELES with a loss to Karim Benmansour in a Welterweight Contender Tournament. Groenhart doesn't feel like Scheinson is on his level. He also has some harsh words for originally-scheduled opponent Harut Grigorian.

“Originally I was supposed to fight Harut Grigorian but then he pulled out of the fight, he had a broken toe or a hurt foot or something. To me that means he was mentally not prepared to fight me, because at this level, our level, an injury like that is not a reason to pull out of such an important fight,” he says.

“I fought many times with a broken toe or some other injury, you don't cancel a fight for something like that. This is why I have to prove to everyone why I deserve the title shot, why I deserve the belt.

“I will knock this Scheinson guy out and show people why I need that title shot next, then whoever wins the fight between Doumbé and Holzken, I will knock that guy out also, and then I will be the champion.”

GLORY 41 HOLLAND takes place Saturday, May 20 at the Brabanthallen ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the city of Den Bosch. It airs live in the US on ESPN 3 and live in the Netherlands on Ziggo Sport.

Van Roosmalen and Petchpanomrung fight on the GLORY 41 SUPERFIGHT SERIES card, which airs live worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS.