Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie (41-4-1, 21 KO’s) goes into a GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES fight with California’s Ky Hollenbeck (46-3, 23 KO’s) on June 21.
Having taken wins over former world #1 Albert Kraus and the veteran Warren Stevelmans in his last two outings, Hollenbeck will earn himself a title shot if he can get past the Suriname man.
“This fight is three rounds not five so that’s an advantage,” says Ristie, who likes to pile pressure on and go all-out.
“So I will fight the same way that I always do. But I have to be very alert and look out for his mistakes, then I take advantage.”
Hollenbeck has beaten two very experienced opponents in his last two outings, both from highly respected Dutch gyms. He has proven he can more than hold his own at this world elite level. But Ristie says he isn’t overly impressed with what he has seen.
“I watched him fight a few times. I know some people complained about his style because he does a lot of clinching and grabbing stuff. I heard that people told him he needs to change his style,” he says.
“I don’t know how true that is but I hope he is coming for a real fight with me, not this clinching. I think he has a little bit too much of a Muay Thai style… also a bit too much wrestling in his style maybe. Well, this isn’t MMA.”
Hollenbeck being from California means he will have the crowd behind him, but Ristie isn’t anticipating too much of a hostile reception.
“This is my second time in Los Angeles. I had a really good time there the first time I went,” he says.
“The weather reminds me a little bit of back home in Suriname and the fans were really good, they are real fight fans in the US.”
Ristie’s world lightweight title fight with Davit Kiria at GLORY 14 ZAGREB was an instant classic, a five-round war which showcased just why kickboxing is the world’s most exciting fight-sport.
‘The Machine’ took control early and hurt Kiria with big shots repeatedly. Coming off back-to-back KO wins over Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin Van Roosmalen, it looked like Ristie was going to smash Kiria as well.
But few fighters are tougher or more dogged than the karate man from Georgia in the former Soviet Union. Despite taking huge damage, Kiria held on and stayed in the fight.
When Ristie’s energy flagged in the fifth round, Kiria completed what will surely be this year’s Comeback of the Year by knocking him out and claiming the GLORY World Lightweight Championship.
“That was a very expensive lesson. It cost me the belt and the prize money. Basically I learned that I cannot always just go forwards, sometimes it is necessary to go backwards also. Especially with a five-round fight, sometimes you need to change the pace,” says Ristie.
“I wasn’t happy with my corner in that fight because I think they should have given me some instruction like this for the later rounds, maybe told me to switch to scoring points for a while and not burn all my energy.”
If he gets the win over Hollenbeck, Ristie stays in the title picture. Rumor has it that Kiria’s first challenger could be Van Roosmalen later this year. Van Roosmalen already has two wins over Kiria, both by decision, and Ristie expects him to take a third victory if they fight again.
But having knocked Van Roosmalen out at GLORY 12 NEW YORK, Ristie is positive he could repeat the feat. So he sees a pathway to the title in his near future.
“I think Van Roosmalen will beat Kiria again if they fight again, unless Kiria does something really different. And I am confident I could beat Robin again by KO. So if this situation happens, good. It’s good for me!” he laughs.
Ristie faces Hollenbeck in the co-main event of GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES, which airs live and free in the USA on SPIKE TV.
It will be followed by GLORY: LAST MAN STANDING, airing on pay-per-view priced at $34.95.
That event features the eight-man Middleweight Championship Tournament, the Daniel Ghita vs. Rico Verhoeven heavyweight title fight and Marc De Bonte making his first defense of the welterweight title versus Canadian challenger ‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini.
