American lightweight Ky Hollenbeck was forced to pull out of a Lightweight Championship fight at GLORY 14 ZAGREB due to being accepted as a trainee firefighter in his native Bay Area.
The San Francisco man was due to face Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie (41-3-1, 21 KO’s) for the vacant belt but his place has now been taken by Davit Kiria (21-9, 6 KO’s), the ultra-aggressive karate stylist from Georgia.
“It is a shame Hollenbeck has been forced to withdraw, but it is for a very good reason. I wish him all the best in his firefighter training and I am sure we will see him in the GLORY ring again,” says Ristie, winner of the GLORY 12 NEW YORK four-man lightweight tournament.
“Now Davit Kiria gets the chance to fight for the title. He is a tough guy - but I am a tough guy too. This is going to be a good fight.”
Kiria’s blistering fighting style has won the hearts of kickboxing fans the world over. From an unknown entering the GLORY ranks in 2012, his spirited, all-action performances quickly marked him out as one to watch.
His background is in Ashihara Karate, one of the world’s hardest full-contact fighting styles. Ashihara fighters are put through extremely tough physical conditioning with a strong emphasis on absorbing and overcoming pain.
The art also has a unique kicking arsenal and that adds to Kiria’s trickiness. His Forward-Rolling Kick has been a big hit with fans, to the extent that a graphic of it has now become the official Kiria team logo.
“I don’t think Kiria is a more difficult opponent for me than Hollenbeck but I do think he has better technique. I like his style of fighting and I am looking forward to fighting against this karate style at GLORY 14,” says Ristie, who is coming off back-to-back KO wins over Giorgio Petrosyan (78-1-1, 35 KO’s) and Robin Van Roosmalen (31-6, 19 KO’s).
“The tactics are not any different really. I don’t pay too much attention to what my opponent does or wants to do. My thing is, I work on my own game and myself. I go in there to do my thing - and as people should know by now, I go hard.
“So whether my opponent is a kickboxer or a karate guy or a Muay Thai fighter, it makes no different to me. It isn’t a problem. Whoever it is, I am going in there for the KO, every time.”
Ristie vs. Kiria takes place Saturday, March 8 at GLORY 14 ZAGREB.
The fight is set for five rounds and the winner will be crowned the GLORY WORLD SERIES Lightweight Champion.
