Sitthichai weighs in on “tricky” Salvador and responds to Grigorian camp

Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (113-30-5, 30 KO's) will stand opposite a familiar face at GLORY 39 BRUSSELS this Saturday night as he prepares to make his second defense of the lightweight title.

He and opponent Dylan Salvador (49-11-1, 21 KO's) are 1-1 against other as a result of their two previous meetings, making this next encounter both a rubber match and a title fight. Salvador lost the first fight but won in the rematch, which has some pundits citing him as the favorite to win this third fight.

“Dylan is fast and sharp but I am bigger than him and have more power,” says Sitthichai. “It's true he won the rematch in Italy but I was really sick for that fight. Not to make excuses, but we had filmed some promotional videos way up in the hills and I don't know if something bit me or what it was, but for days afterwards I had a fever and felt terrible.

“I really didn't feel good in that fight. I ended up taking a lot of leg kicks from him, because I was slow and he was very fast. It's for a southpaw to land leg kicks on another southpaw, so I have to make sure to block those kicks this time and use my power advantage.

“The fact that he is a southpaw is the most difficult thing about him; it can be tricky when southpaw face each other. I watched him win the Lightweight Contender Tournament at GLORY 36 in Germany and yes, he did look good, but I think a lot of that was because the tournament line up was not so strong. But he did well, considering he was lighter than the rest of them.”

Sitthichai also took time to address comments made by Marat Grigorian's coach earlier this week regarding their trilogy of fights. Sitthichai and Grigorian have fought twice in GLORY and once outside the organization, with Sitthichai winning decisions on all three occasions.

Earlier this week, Grigorian's coach Nicky Hemmers said that he believed the result at GLORY 28 PARIS should have gone Grigorian's way and that “90% of the world agreed”. He also said that Sitthichai “ran away from the fight” during the GLORY 36 rematch in December.

Sitthichai doesn't agree.

“I didn't even think Germany was a close fight,” he says. “Marat was strong in the first two rounds but after that he kind of faded and I didn't really feel much more from him in the last three rounds. As for the Paris fight, I don't know how they can say “90% of people thought Marat won” - most people thought I won.

“Marat is a bigger fighter than me and he is a hard puncher, of course I am not just going to stand in front of him and get into exchanges. To be honest my weight is more 67kg/150lb, I am slightly small for this lightweight category, but my southpaw stance and tactics are what lets me beat these guys.

“I control the fight, control the distance, that's how I win. If I was stupid sure, I would just stand in front of them and fight that way and get overpowered. But I don't, I fight smart and I win. So if they felt like I was running away from Marat, sure, if you want to call it that. I call it fighting smart.”