Sanny Dahlbeck: Sweden's Fastest Rising Star

Fighters like Giorgio Petrosyan and Robin van Roosmalen always put on performances that amaze fans, but in the GLORY 3 tournament it was young Sanny Dahlbeck (24-5-0, 15 KO's) who stole the show. Just 21 years old at the time, Dahlbeck’s performances - particularly his finish of the veteran Yoshihiro Sato - ensured was the tournament’s breakout star.

The first leg of the competition took place in Stockholm, Sweden and with Dahlbeck being a crowd favorite there, he was entered into the opening stage as something of a wild card. He won and progressed to the final 8, where he stopped Sato (51-20), then proceeded to put on the fan-voted "Fight of the Night" versus Robin Van Roosmalen (29-5, 19 KO’s) in the second round before losing on body shots.

Dahlbeck was lined up to face Andy Ristie (38-3-1, 19 KO’s) at GLORY 5 in London but he had some injuries he wanted to heal up and so was unable to accept the booking. The fight is now taking place at GLORY 10 in Los Angeles.

It is a classic piece of matchmaking which pits a top contender against a rising star; Dahlbeck is excited for the opportunity. He’s also keen to put to rest any suggestion that he was avoiding Ristie.

“People always talk but no, I would never be scared of fighting anyone,” he laughs. “It just wasn’t the right time for me. I had fought under Muay Thai rules in Sweden not long before GLORY 5 and I had some injuries I wanted to take care of, I wouldn’t have been in good condition for the fight.

“There would be no point signing for GLORY if you want to avoid people. There are no easy fights here. I think in GLORY, anyone will fight anyone.”

Ristie is undefeated in three fights for GLORY. Two of the wins came by knockout, the most recent being in his last fight when he stopped the esteemed Albert Kraus with a trademark knee strike in the second round. Ristie has a reputation as a fighter who goes out there looking for a knockout from the opening bell.

“I know he’s a wild fighter, he’s very tall, he has those knees that he takes people out with. He really hurts people with those knees but at the same time I think he can be quite sloppy when he throws them, his defence isn’t tight,” says Dahlbeck.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have 100% respect for him, but I don’t think it's mission impossible. His style is wild and explosive. Mine is unorthodox and I need that to put him off his game so he can’t do what he wants to do.

“I watched his fight with Alessandro Campagna, who has an unorthodox style. He gave Ristie problems at GLORY 6 the same way he gave Fabio Pinca problems at GLORY 3. So I think that shows that, you know, Ristie can be beaten and that’s kind of the way to do it.”

Ristie won’t be the first knockout machine that Dahlbeck has faced in GLORY. Last year he shocked everyone by stopping Yoshihiro Sato in the quarter-finals of the GLORY 3 eight-man tournament, before being stopped in turn by Robin van Roosmalen in the second round. Now ranked #2 in the world, Van Roosmalen has a 66% knockout ratio in his victories.

“He’s really fast and really hard. He’s small and compact, a great guy and a great fighter,” Dahlbeck says as he recalls colliding with the stocky Dutchman.

“It was fun to fight him actually. I watched some of his fights before I was in GLORY and I thought ‘This guy looks so dangerous, he would probably take my head off’. But then when I fought him I got to know that he is human and it’s not impossible for me to win.”

Facing the likes of Van Roosmalen and Sato is where Dahlbeck wants to be with his career, though he admits he sometimes found it surreal be to sharing a ring with them.

“Sato is a legend for me. I’ve watched him since I was a kid. All those guys, Kraus and everyone, it’s a huge step up for me to be among these guys. I actually remember in the Sato fight at one point we were in the clinch, I looked up at the screen and it said ‘Dahlbeck vs. Sato’ and I was like ‘Wow, that’s me up there with Sato,’” he recalls.

“I’m 22 now and I’ve been fighting professionally for three years; it was a good milestone for me. I think I need more fights, more experience and also to put a little more weight on. I started at 67 kilos, and then moved up to 69 kilos. Now I am a bit bigger at 70 kilos but I still think I’m not all the way there yet. I haven’t completely filled out.”

Would Dahlbeck consider dropping weight and taking part in GLORY’s featherweight division?

He says not. “Cutting to 65 kilos? I don’t think so. Last year I was going to take a fight at 67 kilos but I just couldn’t do it. I don’t have the discipline, ha! There’s just too much food everywhere and the food is too nice.”

Dahlbeck is staying in the lightweight division and, eventually, he wants to be challenging for the title and the #1 spot. At the moment that position is held by the renowned Giorgio Petrosyan, who has an incredible 78-1 record and is often talked of as being ‘unbeatable’.

Dahlbeck doesn’t think that is the case - but he isn’t sure who it is who will topple the Italian-Armenia king.

“Yeah that’s a tough one. Petrosyan is Petrosyan but everybody is beatable. They just haven’t found the way yet. I think that everyone is so determined to win that they get frustrated at how he fights and then he gets to do his thing, countering and moving away. Everyone falls for it,” he says.

“Van Roosmalen and he were close in Rome and Van Roosmalen, in the end, was actually winning if you ask me. He could definitely beat Petrosyan, if he has a bit of luck on his side and has the fight go his way.

“But it’s a difficult question. Petrosyan is a machine. His style, everything he does... he sees everything. He is so like that - he is very quiet when you meet him and he has this empty look in his eye and then he gets in the ring and he is 110% focused. It’s amazing to see. I hope I get to face him one day. I wasn’t that far from getting to face him in Rome, really.”

But before there can be any talk of facing Petrosyan there is a ladder to climb in the lightweight division, and it starts with the Andy Ristie fight at GLORY 10.

The Los Angeles event marks Dahlbeck’s debut on US soil. It is even more significant for him because he recently discovered he has a long-lost American sister and he hopes she can be ringside when he faces Ristie.

“It’s a crazy story,” he says. “My sister was lost for 23 years before my mother found her again. My mother is originally from Singapore, of Malaysian heritage. She was living in the US and she was married to a guy who turned out to be a bad one. He became abusive and she had to leave, he made her leave alone, she couldn’t take the children with her.

“She went back to Singapore and she wrote to her daughter all the time but the letters were all returned, there was never any reply and so she lost touch. It was only two years ago she found her again.

“My sister had a hard life. Her father had died when she was young, she had been through period of homelessness and just a really tough time. It was hard for her.

“She grew up in Seattle and actually she always thought she was Mexican. By chance one day she was talking to someone who had a Malaysian background and when she told her that her middle name was Binte, the woman told her that was a Malaysian name. Sometimes you get that, Malaysian people can look a bit Hispanic. She had no idea until then!

“The first time I met her was when she came to Sweden in April last year. Then, after the GLORY 3 tournament, I went to Seattle and stayed with her for 18 days. She’s also been on holiday to Spain with us.

“She’s coming to LA and I really hope she can be there ringside to see my fight that would be really nice. I’d like that.”

GLORY 10 takes place at the Citizens Bank Arena in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, September 28. The card features a one-night, four-man middleweight tournament and a stacked line-up of superfights featuring the best kickboxers from around the world.