Lightweight champion Van Roosmalen to face Ristie in GLORY 20 DUBAI main...

One of the most anticipated rematches in kickboxing is set to take place at GLORY 20 DUBAI as Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie (44-4-1, 24 KO’s) challenges lightweight champion Robin van Roosmalen (33-6, 19 KO’s) in the main event.

Van Roosmalen and Ristie fought in the final of the lightweight tournament at GLORY 12 NEW YORK in November 2013. Van Roosmalen was the favorite but Ristie, who had also stopped Giorgio Petrosyan in the semi-finals, managed to stop Van Roosmalen in the second round.

Ristie then went into a fight for the vacant belt against Davit Kiria at GLORY 14 ZAGREB and was on track for a one-sided victory until Kiria staged what was later declared the ‘Comeback of the Year’ and stopped him in the final round.

Having got back in the win column via a win over Marat Grigorian, Van Roosmalen had a title shot against Kiria at GLORY 18 OKLAHOMA in November. He outworked and outlanded the Georgian karate stylist to take a unanimous decision win and the GLORY World Lightweight Championship.

Since the loss to Kiria, Ristie has gone 2-0 with two knockouts, the first being over Ky Hollenbeck at GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES and the most recent being over ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Moxon in the main event of GLORY Superfight Series 19, which US viewers saw on the CBS Sports network this past Friday night.

Now the lightweight title saga comes full circle as Van Roosmalen and Ristie are set to meet each other for a second time at GLORY 20 DUBAI at the  Dubai World Trade Center in Dubai, UAE on Friday, April 3.

“This will be one of the most action-packed and explosive title fights in GLORY’s history - for as long as it lasts,” said Cor Hemmers, GLORY matchmaker and Head of Talent Operations.

“They are so fired up for this fight. Van Roosmalen is the champion now; he wants revenge for that first loss and he wants to put Ristie in his place. Ristie feels like he let the title slip away at GLORY 14 and he says he won’t be making that mistake this time.”

Van Roosmalen vs. Ristie takes the GLORY 20 DUBAI main event slot and replaces the previously announced World Featherweight Championship fight between Gabriel Varga and Mosab Amrani. That bout now moves to the main event slot of the GLORY Superfight Series 20 card.

GLORY 20 DUBAI airs in the US on Spike TV on Friday, April 3 at 9pm ET/8pm CT. In the co-main event slot, America’s Pat “HD” Barry returns to the ring for a showdown with Mourad “The Silent Power” Bouzidi, an experienced veteran who will have home field advantage.