Former lightweight champion Davit Kiria (22-10, 7 KO’s) returns to the ring at GLORY 22 FRANCE next month as he looks to get back on the title trail.
He is one of four fighters taking part in the Lightweight Contender Tournament on Friday, June 5 in the city of Lille, France. The winner will get a shot at the World Lightweight Championship, which Robin van Roosmalen took from Kiria by way of a decision win at GLORY 18 OKLAHOMA last year.
Kiria faces Thai champion Sittichai (97-27-5, 25 KO’s) in the semi-final stage. The other bracket has young rising stars Josh Jauncey (22-4, 11 KO’s) vs. Niclas Larsen (40-7-1, 20 KO’s), both of whom have shone in their prior GLORY appearances and look ready to step up to the next level.
“Right now I am doing my preparations in Georgia, in my home town Zugdidi,” says Kiria, who will travel to Holland for the final few weeks of camp as he usually does.
“My preparation is going very well and I feel very confident. For that I have to thank my coach Bachuki Partsvania and all my sparring partners and my sponsor [Dutch company] Daavision for backing all my preparation.”
Last year Sitthichai won a championship title at Lumpini Stadium in Thailand, confirming him as one of Muay Thai’s elite talents. His signing for GLORY has excited fight fans around the world as his style is particularly aggressive and thus well suited for fighting under kickboxing rules.
“Like with every match, I take him as a serious opponent. I think he will use many kicks. But I will find out how to stop him - I never lose to Thai fighters,” he says.
“[As for] Josh Jauncey and Niclas Larsen, I know them after they fought in GLORY and I also watched them fight of course. Both are complete fighters, they use every technique. But I still can find out how to win against them. We will see it on June 5th, this tournament will be a surprise for people.”
Kiria’s loss to Van Roosmalen put him 2-0 against the Dutch lightweight with both losses by decision.
But he says he is confident he can find the key to victory if he wins the Contender tournament and sets up a third fight.
“Of course I didn't like the result of GLORY 18 and I have thought a lot about that. But it is already in the past for me and I am looking forward to my new goals. I promise everybody I will get my title back and I am working very hard towards that,” says Kiria.
“As always I'm going to do my best. My key strength is that I never give up. If we fight again maybe it can be the ‘Fight of the Century’ in the lightweight division.”
Van Roosmalen made his first defense of the belt at GLORY 20 DUBAI, shutting out Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie over five rounds to retain the title and avenge the loss he suffered to Ristie in their GLORY 12 NEW YORK fight.
“For Robin that was a good fight. As always he worked in the same style and reached his goal. About Ristie, I think he was tired too early and that made for a bad performance. But I also heard he had a injury so that also could be a reason,” says Kiria, who beat Ristie for the vacant belt at GLORY 14 ZAGREB.
“I can't say whether Ristie is finished as a contender because I don't know what he thinks about it. But I hope he will come back because he deserves to fight at this level.”
GLORY 22 FRANCE takes place Friday, June 5 at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France. The event is headlined by Rico Verhoeven defending the World Lightweight Championship against Romanian challenger Benjamin Adegbuyi.
In the co-main event, hard-hitting professional boxer Zack Mwekassa faces karate stylist Carlos Brooks, a veteran of Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, in a light-heavyweight batle.
