Meksen retains super-bantamweight title

The co-main event of GLORY 64 in Strasbourg, France features a super bantamweight title rematch between champion Anissa Meksen (98-4, 31 KO’s) and the woman she defeated to capture the belt, Tiffany van Soest (19-4-1, 6 KO’s). The pair’s first meeting came on U.S. soil and Meksen was able to dethrone the American. Van Soest looked to match the feat in Meksen’s home country.

Meksen landed a trio of low kicks to start the bout. Van Soest responded with a body kick of her own. An overhand right from van Soest missed the mark, allowing Meksen to score with more low kicks. 

Van Soest landed a body kick before missing with a spinning backfist attempt. A push kick from van Soest put Meksen on the canvas for a brief second. The round ended with fight’s first clinch exchange.

A punching exchange started round two and both fighters landed. A crisp left from Meksen found its mark. Van Soest fired a head kick and then another spinning backfist, but both techniques were blocked by the champion. 

Van Soest fell in love with the spinning techniques and it allowed Meksen to score with a right straight and left hook. A right hand and head kick combination from Meksen landed late in the frame.

Van Soest initiated a clinch to start round three. The pair traded low kicks after they separated. Meksen delivered multiple punching combinations and popped the head of van Soest. 

Van Soest was very active and continued to look for spinning attacks, but she did not land. A heavy body kick from the challenger landed, but Meksen cracked her with a massive left hook to close the stanza.

The championship rounds began with a superwoman punch from van Soest. She clinched but was quickly separated by the referee. Van Soest pressured forward with volume. Body kicks were traded in the center of the ring and van Soest again clinched. Van Soest threw a jumping push kick that surprised the champion. Meksen answered with straight punches late in round.

An inadvertent elbow from van Soest resulted in a warning in round five. Meksen landed an overhand left from the southpaw stance. Van Soest continued her forward march and finally landed a spinning backfist along the ropes. 

Meksen took it well and fired back with punches. Van Soest scored with a right hand as she desperately looked for a fight-changing strike. It would not come, as the fight went the distance.

One of the five judges ringside felt the challenger did enough to win, but the other four judges returned lopsided scorecards in favor of the champion, who earned her 98th career win.

“Thank you to Tiffany for taking the fight. Thank you to the fans for coming out,” said the victorious champion. “Everyone knows how hard it is at this level. I hope I made everyone proud.”

Anissa Meksen def. Tiffany van Soest by split decision (47-48, 49-46, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45) - for super bantamweight title