GLORY 12 - A ‘Technician vs. Brawler’ Tournament
Fighters can generally be divided into two kinds: technicians and brawlers. That isn’t to say that a technician can’t have some brawler in him or that the brawler isn’t technically sound. It is just that generally, a fighter will lean toward one or the other and that will be reflected in his fighting style.
On Saturday November 23, a four-man lightweight tournament is being staged at GLORY 12 NEW YORK. Interestingly there is a 50-50 split between technician/brawler types between Robin van Roosmalen, Giorgio Petrosyan, Davit Kiria and Andy Ristie.
I would say Van Roosmalen (30-5, 19 KO’s) is definitely a brawler. He throws long combinations but he is always looking for the KO and he likes to stand right in front of his opponent. He is facing Davit Kiria (21-8, 6 KO’s), an unorthodox Karate fighter with very dangerous kicks. Kiria likes to put pressure on his opponents but he is always highly technical in his approach.
Petrosyan (78-1-1, 35 KO’s) is the very model of a technician, calculating every single movement he makes and always making textbook-perfect attacks and responses. His opponent Andy Ristie (39-3-1, 19 KO’s) is the opposite, an aggressive, wild fighter who constantly looks for the knockout.
Van Roosmalen vs Kiria:
This fight will be a rematch. In their 2011 meeting they stood right in front of each other exchanging combinations. Kiria was still somewhat new to kickboxing, having moved over from Karate, and Van Roosmalen had the edge.
In this rematch Van Roosmalen should do what he always does, putting pressure on Kiria. He should move forward throwing combinations of at least four punches followed by a knee or kick. When Kiria counters, he should counter that counter. Most of the time, Van Roosmalen will be the one finishing the exchange with a kick or a punch before the two break off, circle and re-engage.
Kiria likes to move forward with punches; he throws unexpected kicks in the process. He signature move is the ‘Rolling Thunder’ kick, used a lot by full-contact Karate fighters. If I was advising him, it would be to play more of a kicking game and refrain from getting into the exchanging of combinations with Van Roosmalen, who is a master in that game. Kiria should pick his battles, sticking and moving, racking up points in the process.
Petrosyan vs Ristie:
This will be an interesting match. I expect Ristie to constantly move in while trying to land his dangerous left hook. He will be looking for the clinch to hit Petrosyan with his deadly knees to the body and head. Ristie, who won 10 of his last 15 fights by KO, doesn’t want this to be a point fighting contest. He will go in and try to draw Petrosyan into a brawl.
The southpaw Petrosyan is very experienced and will try and keep his composure. He will want to move to his left, away from Ristie’s dangerous left hook. Often called the pound-for-pound best kickboxer in the world, he will try to stay out of the clinch and score with straight lefts, right hooks and left kicks to the legs, body and head.
In a tournament anything can happen. However, many people expect Van Roosmalen to face Petrosyan in the finals. If this happens, it will be the second rematch for Van Roosmalen that day. He lost a very close decision to Petrosyan in their fight one year ago in Rome.
Robin said he showed too much respect to Petrosyan in that first fight, allowing Petrosyan to score points and move away. He has improved drastically after that fight and is currently on a three-fight win streak which includes a victory over K-1 MAX 2012 champion Murthel Groenhart.
A Petrosyan/Van Roosmalen final would be interesting because we would get to see what changes Van Roosmalen has made. It would also allow Van Roosmalen to address the issue of whether he did show Petrosyan too much respect, or whether Petrosyan simply commands that respect and forces the fight where he wants it.
Before that can happen though, they have to win their first fights. And as we saw in the GLORY 11 CHICAGO Heavyweight Championship Tournament, anything can happen when four world-class talents are in the same tournament. Rico Verhoeven upset the heavyweight world; can Kiria or Ristie do the same in the lightweight division?
