Author: Michael Stets

The former GLORY welterweight champion was none too pleased when Nieky Holzken called him out during their post-fight interview at GLORY 29 after Holzken defeated Yoann Kongolo to retain his title in Copenhagen, Denmark. Valtellini hasn’t fought since being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome last year.

Joseph Valtellini hasn’t fought for GLORY since winning the welterweight title at GLORY: “Last Man Standing” back in June of 2014. His highly-coveted rematch with Nieky Holzken never materialized and there is a good reason for that.

Just when his career was hitting an all-time high, Valtellini, 30, was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome and was forced to abdicate his welterweight title in June of 2015.

Valtellini broke the news to Bloody Elbow at the time saying, “It was something that occurred from training but I thought it would get better and I didn’t take that time to recover, which just made it worse. As a result neither the doctors nor GLORY will clear me to fight until I am symptom-free. Unfortunately we don’t know when that will be … it could be a week, a month, a year or I could have this forever. Its not fair to the fans, GLORY or the other athletes for me to wait to defend the belt not knowing when I will be better. As such, I have made the difficult decision, in conjunction with GLORY, to vacate the title.”

Since that time, Valtellini has continued his job as a teacher working with special needs children and those with behavioral issues, opened a new gym called “Bazooka Kickboxing and MMA,” landed his first acting role in the upcoming “Kickboxer” remake, worked as a stunt coordinator on the upcoming “Suicide Squad” film, and most recently started a new color-commentating gig with GLORY–where he has been lauded for his performance thus far.

When the GLORY 29 main event concluded on Saturday (April 16, 2016) Valtellini interviewed GLORY welterweight champion Nieky Holzken after he defeated Yoann Kongolo by unanimous decision. It was a typical post-fight interview, until Valtellini asked Holzken who he wanted to face next.

“I see you as the next opponent, you. You have to come back and then we finish business,” Holzken told him.

Holzken and Valtellini fought for the first time in the GLORY 13 tournament final in Tokyo, Japan and it was considered “Fight of the Year” by several kickboxing outlets. Holzken won by knockout in the third round after a furious back-and-forth battle. A few months later he suffered a shoulder injury after a car accident, which forced him out of the inaugural welterweight title fight. Marc de Bonte defeated Karapet Karapetyan (who replaced Holzken) at GLORY 16 to win the title, and lost it to Valtellini at “Last Man Standing” while Holzken was still on the mend.

The heavily-anticipated rematch between Holzken and Valtellini was set up for GLORY 21 in San Diego, Calif. and was days away from being announced back in February of 2015, but was pulled for undisclosed reasons at the time, which turned out to be what Valtellini revealed when he vacated the belt last June.

(Original artwork for GLORY 21 before main event fell through. Credit: GLORY Sports International)

Valtellini responded to Holzken’s surprising call out and said, “I think I would love that. The fans would love it,” and then turned the focus back to the champion. But when he began to ask another question, the champion interrupted with, “You should start training.”

“I’ve been training. Don’t worry about it,” said Valtellini, who remained professional and took the high road, finishing the interview with a final question about the champion’s thoughts on fighting in Denmark. Holzken is obviously aware of Valtellini’s condition and knows he can’t fight, but called him out regardless and really put him in an awkward position.

MMAmania.com reached out to Valtellini to get his real thoughts on the matter, now that he wasn’t in the GLORY ring holding a microphone and could speak honestly and openly on the matter.

“I thought it was pretty bush league and not very sportsmanlike for him to call me out knowing my medical situation,” Valtellini said. “Concussions are no joke and he’s not setting a great example. Of course I’d love to fight him many times but I can’t. If I didn’t have these issues the belt would easily be around my waist because frankly, I know I’m better than him. But it is what it is. I guess he knows the only way he can build himself up is by using my name. I get it.”

It’s hard to not understand where Valtellini is coming from here. Concussions are a very serious issue in all of sports. More and more information and diagnosis on active and retired fighters and athletes continues to surface. Several NFL players have retired early due to concussion issues, as did former WWE champion, Daniel Bryan. The UFC recently extended its partnership with Cleveland Clinic in support of “The Professional Fighter’s Brain Health Study,” which has done extensive studies on the effects that repetitive head trauma has on a fighters in order to provide and improve fighter safety.

Valtellini will likely never step in the ring again, which has assuredly been extremely hard on him this past year. The The native of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, was considered a North American ambassador for the sport and with his clean-cut image, good lucks and well-spoken nature, was spoken of as the Derek Jeter of kickboxing. Luckily with his knowledge of fighting and his new gig as a color-commentator, he can still be a representative of the sport albeit in a different role.

Perhaps Holzken didn’t truly intend to be insulting when he called “Bazooka Joe” out and he was only coming from a place of wanting the most challenging opponent for himself, which Valtellini would certainly be if he were healthy. Or he doesn’t respect Valtellini’s condition or fully understand the serious nature of it and thinks he should be fighting again. Whatever the case may be, Holzken’s call out is a fruitless endeavor, because the fight isn’t going to happen. Kickboxing fans are now left to discuss hypotheticals on who they think would’ve won and to fawn over the 2013 “Fight of the Year” classic that went down in Tokyo, which was truly one of the best GLORY fights of all time.

“Real Deal” readies to make a splash on Bellator Kickboxing’s first card against Francesco Moricca in Turin, Italy, tomorrow (Sat. April 16, 2016). And he tells us all about it — and much more — in a recent conversation.

Italy is a country that has given birth to some of the greatest artistic creations the world has ever known. And when Raymond Daniels (27-3) heads there for Bellator Kickboxing, he will look to paint another gravity-defying masterpiece for which he has long been known. But, unlike Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci who used a paint brush, “Real Deal” paints with his limbs from a palette of spinning and jumping colors that reveal movements a gamer would get from button mashing during “Tekken” or “Street Fighter.”

While fighting for GLORY kickboxing the last few years, Daniels, 35, gave fans the kind of thrilling and high-flying violence they never witnessed before each and every time he stepped in the ring. Now, he will do the same for Bellator Kickboxing when he heads to Turin, Italy, for the new promotion’s first fight card to take on Francesco Moricca (15-2-1). The card will air via tape delay on Fri., April 22, 2016, at 11 p.m. ET immediately after Bellator 153.

“Real Deal” is happy to still be a part of the Viacom and Spike TV family and is excited to be a part of history and compete on the promotion’s inaugural card.

“It’s awesome to have the opportunity to continue that relationship with them,” Daniels told MMAmania.com. “I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to go out for this first Bellator Kickboxing event. This is a very historic event, so to speak, and to have the opportunity to have a huge part and play a role in it is an honor in itself.”

Back in February when the new promotion was launched, Daniels told MMAmania.com in Houston, Texas, that staying with Spike was a “determining factor” in why he didn’t re-sign with GLORY. “With Bellator Kickboxing being on Spike I will be able to continue to build that brand and build that legacy and to continue to motivate and inspire other martial artists around the world. That is what my goal is.”

Another key component was Scott Coker, whom Daniels had worked with years prior with one of his first fights in K-1. “He kind of has that Midas touch,” he said at the time. “Everything he touches he turns to gold. I”m looking forward to being involved with Bellator as it turns to gold on Spike TV.”

Daniels is a martial arts instructor when he’s not competing and he travels the world to host seminars and teach. He’s never been to Italy for a fight, but raved about the country saying it has “great food, great wine and great culture.” He likes the idea of going into hostile environment to Morica, who is a native Italian.

“I’m going into foreign territory and fighting somewhere on their home turf, but at the same time I do have a huge following in Italy,” Daniels explained. “Last year I did a tour and I had thousands of people at my seminars. I’m really excited to see when I come out am I going to have some support? Will I have bigger support than somebody from the actual country themselves? It will be a great opportunity and people that aren’t fans of mine… I look forward to converting them.”

As for his opponent, “Real Deal” offered some analysis, “He is well versed in his boxing and kickboxing. He’s had some MMA stuff as well. I’ve gotten a chance to see he is really strong and aggressive. He’s got some good powerful hands. Got some good Dutch-style leg kicks. He’s not any type of style of fighter that I haven’t seen before or anything like that. He’s got a similar style, similar base to the fighters I’m used to. I’m definitely well versed in it. I think it will be a great fight and I’ll be able to go out there and give the fans definitely something they’ve never seen before. I’ll go out there and do what I do best, put on a show.”

Putting on an aerial circus of maneuvers and eye-popping techniques has never been the issue for the Californian Taekwondo, American Kenpo and Shotokan black belt. Those moves come with relative ease in the ring because he’s done them his whole life in karate competition. The true challenge for Daniels in his career was realizing he needed to make serious adjustments to his game in order to take on elite-level kickboxers.

Daniels first tasted defeat in the semifinals of the GLORY 13 tournament against Valtellini … and it left a bitter taste. “Bazooka Joe” didn’t fall prey to all of his strengths and forced him into fighting his style, cutting off the ring, keeping the pressure on and riddling him with low kicks, which eventually knocked him out in the third round. He suffered a similar fate when he faced current GLORY Welterweight champion, Nieky Holzken.

Daniels was determined to improve and reinvented his game and began to work with Tyler Wombles, a protege of Rafael Cordeiro who now owns and operates Classic Fight Team in Costa Mesa, California. Since then, he’s shown great improvements in his overall game and although he lost to Holzken in their rematch last August, Daniels won the first round of the fight on the scorecards and proved he belonged in the ring before succumbing because of a nasty cut over his eye.

“As a martial artists it’s about constant and never-ending improvement,” Daniels said. “Can you become than who you were yesterday? That’s always my goal. My skill set before I lost to Valltelini and to Holzken, no one had ever been able to make me show or make me have to improve in a way where I had to rework my basics because no one ever was able to counter that style of fighting.  Because it was so flash and so high-energy and high-octane that a lot of times they weren’t able to or they weren’t strong enough. Anytime you lose it’s a humbling experience, but at the same time you are a competitor and an athlete you know that it really lights a fire underneath you. I love winning. I absolutely enjoy it, but I dislike losing so much that the universe isn’t a big enough place to show how much I dislike the losing aspect of it. That’s because I’m a competitor.”

“Raymond has always been a top-level fighter, but he has improved leaps and bounds in his kickboxing skill, especially with his defense,” said Wombles. “When he is able to defend traditional kickboxers successfully, that is when he is able to impose his will on them. I’ve always said it’s almost impossible to figure Raymond out in three rounds and the reason for that is–just like he did with karate–he has dedicated himself to honing these new skills and spends hours drilling on the things we feel were needed to keep his progression going. He’s a true martial artist in every way and his discipline, focus and self confidence are second to none.”

Daniels says Wombles and his boxing coach Ramon Espada are “great coaches” who continue to stress the basics and keep him well prepared, but what he loves the most is that they put no restrictions on what he is capable of and does remarkably well, so he can still be his high-flying self when he wants to be. Ultimate that is what makes him so much different than other kickboxers, he says.

Bellator Kickboxing seems tailor made for fighters from Bellator MMA to cross over and vice-versa. Daniels wouldn’t completely rule it out, but it’s more than likely he wont wander into the cage any time soon. He’s more than content on doing what he does best.

“I have to say if I was a painter and you told me to paint a masterpiece It would be with a paint brush and kickboxing is where I can paint that masterpiece,” he said, being honest on where his strengths lie. “It’s not that MMA is off the map or anything, but I’d have to talk to my camp and talk to the people that are in my corner and see if that is an avenue we want to go down and venture.”

For now, Daniels has set his sights set on wowing the Italian crowd inside Pala Apitour on Saturday by painting another masterpiece and dismantling Moricca by a method that has yet to be seen inside a kickboxing ring. Indeed, just a regular win won’t do. It has to be a jaw-dropping finish like his win over Francois Ambang where he hit a two-touch spinning-back kick, which went viral within minutes and he affectionately dubbed, “Real Deal.”

I already expect to win my fight, but I want to win it in a fashion that is exciting to the people and the crowd and give the world something they haven’t seen a real athlete in a combat sport actually do. For me, I make sure I got out and condition myself so I’m mentally and physically strong enough to be able to go out and showcase my athleticism. I still got a few tricks up my sleeve that everybody hasn’t seen before. I’m looking forward to having that opportunity to go out here in Bellator’s premiere kickboxing event and go out and show everybody some new stuff and something that will keep them coming back for many years to come.”

Earlier today (Fri., April 15, 2016) ,GLORY held the weigh-in event for GLORY 29 and its “SuperFight Series.”

GLORY 29’s five-fight main card will air live tomorrow on ESPN3 at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT and replay on ESPN2 tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. For Spanish-language viewers, it will air on ESPN Deportes at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Sat., April 30, 2016. Meanwhile, the six-fight card for GLORY’s SuperFight Series: “Paris” will air live tomorrow on UFC FIGHT PASS at 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT.

GLORY 29 takes place at Forum Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and will be headlined by a Welterweight title fight between current champion, Nieky Holzken (89-11) and No. 3-ranked challenger, Yoann Kongolo (61-6).

In the co-main event, Featherweight champion Serhiy Adamchuk (32-5) is stepping up on a short notice and moving up a weight class to fill in for Niclas Larsen against Mohammed El-Mir (113-21) in a Lightweight contest. Larsen pulled out because of an infection less than one week out from the event.

There will also be a one-night, four-man “Contender” tournament in the Heavyweight division. In the semifinal brackets, No. 2-ranked Jahfarr Wilnis (28-6-1) will face 25-year-old Russian prospect, Kirill Kornilov (7-1) and Anderson “Braddock” Silva (39-13-1) will take on GLORY newcomer, Ismael Londt (36-6-1).

GLORY 29 WEIGH-IN RESULTS

Welterweight Title Headline Bout:
Nieky Holzken (169.3 lb / 76.8 kg) vs. Yoann Kongolo (169.1 lb / 76.7 kg)
Lightweight Co-Headline Bout:
Serhiy Adamchuk (154.1 lb / 69.9 kg) vs. Mohammed El-Mir (154.3 lb / 70 kg)
Heavyweight Contender Tournament Bout:
Anderson Silva (246.7 lb / 111.9 kg) vs. Ismael Londt (252.2 lb / 114.4 kg)
Heavyweight Contender Tournament Bout :
Jahfarr Wilnis (249.8 lb / 113.3 kg) vs. Kirill Kornilov (226 lb / 102.5 kg)

GLORY 29 SUPERFIGHT SERIES WEIGH-IN RESULTS

Light-Heavyweight Headline Bout:
Zack Mwekassa (207.2 lb / 94 kg) vs. Zinedine Hameur-Lain (203.3 lb / 92.2 kg)
Heavyweight Bout:
Cihad Kepenek (246.7 lb / 111.9 kg) vs. Tomas Mozny (237.4 lb / 107.7 kg)
Welterweight Bout:
Jonatan Oliveira (169.1 lb / 76.7 kg) vs. Meran Zangana (168.4 lb / 76.4 kg)
Lightweight Bout:
Rhassan Muhareb (152.6 lb / 69.2 kg) vs. Abdou Karim Chorr (153.4 lb / 69.6 kg)
Welterweight Bout:
Harut Grigorian (162.3 lb / 73.6 kg) vs. Ma?ximo Suarez (162.5 lb / 73.7 kg)

For more news and notes about GLORY 29 and much more click here.

Michael Stets dives into the world of kickboxing in this new podcast. For the inaugural episode, Liverkick.com’s Dave Walsh comes on to preview GLORY 29, Bellator Kickboxing’s first card in Italy, and discuss the impact of GLORY’s newest fighters: Ismael Londt and Tiffany van Soest.

With GLORY heading to Copenhagen, Denmark, on Sat. (April 16, 2016) for GLORY 29, and Bellator Kickboxing making its live debut on the same day in Turin, Italy, it’s safe to say there are plenty of topics within the sport to discuss.

With the Kickboxing Roundtable podcast, MMAmania’s Michael Stets will be giving you a closer look into the current matchups, fight cards and top stories in the world of kickboxing. On the inaugural episode, Stets will be joined by Liverkick.com’s Dave Walsh to preview GLORY 29, as well as Bellator Kickboxing’s first effort.

“Mr. Pain” says he’s a big problem for the other three heavyweights in the GLORY 29 heavyweight “Contender” tournament.

On Saturday night (April 16, 2016) Ismael Londt will make his his long-awaited GLORY debut at GLORY 29 in Copenhagen, Denmark, inside Forum Copenhagen.

Londt, 30, had been on the GLORY radar a few years back, but after he signed with K-1 for a heavyweight tournament, a contract never came to fruition.

“I think there was a misunderstanding with GLORY during the time I signed with K-1,” Londt explained to MMAmania.com. “There was a little misunderstanding and it got a little out of hand. So we talked about it and stuff and then actually GLORY called me and were interested.”

The heavyweight division could really use a shot in the arm with several of the biggest stars in the sport retiring or no longer fighting for GLORY like Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts, and Daniel Ghita, among others. Londt has long been considered one of the very best in the world, and now he is thrilled to be fighting for the world’s leading kickboxing promotion.

“I’m really excited to fight in GLORY,” he said. “I’m looking forward to fighting on the biggest platform now of the kickboxing world. We will see what is going to happen. One thing I can promise is I will make an spectacular fight. I drop explosive bombs. I have speed for a big guy, so I know it’s a good thing for them to take me in GLORY.”

“Mr. Pain,” who got that nickname for inflicting punishment on sparring partners when he first began fighting, said he likes tournaments because “anything can happen.” He will face Anderson “Braddock” Silva in the opening round of the four-man heavyweight “Contender” tournament, the fifth one in his eight-year career he has competed in. He’s ready to compete and likes the other three heavyweights that are in it with him.

“I’m happy with the fighters in the tournament,” said Londt. “I think Jahfar [Wilnis] can drop some bombs and Kirillo [Kornilov] can drop some bombs. “Braddock” is a very fast and intelligent fighter. So he’s smart and you have to be smart with him also. I’m happy with this tournament. It’s a good first step for me to introduce myself to GLORY with this tournament.”

The Dutch-Surinamese fighter gave his thoughts on where he thinks his strengths lie in the matchup against Silva:

“I think my natural speed, my power and my way of fighting,” said Londt, listing what he feels are his advantages. “I think people like the way I fight. Some people underestimate me. I think all three know that I am very dangerous. Especially when I am fit. For the fighters I am a big problem. They know I’m a big problem.”

The winner of the GLORY 29 “Contender” tournament will, of course, get a shot at current champion, Rico Verhoeven’s title. However, Londt is not putting the cart before the horse just yet.

“I take it one by one,” he said. “The first fight vs. Anderson Silva is the most important fight for me. I don’t think about the title shot or nothing else so far. I’d be excited if I got a title shot, but I’m thinking Anderson Silva first and then we will see.”

As for his thoughts on the champion, Londt addressed the criticism Verhoeven often receives for lack of knockouts, but said you must give credit where it is due despite that.

“The thing is with Rico a lot of people talk about Rico like, ‘oh he doesn’t fight. He doesn’t make a fight. He doesn’t KO.’ That’s true, but still Rico is the real champion. He beat them all. He’s smart, less injuries. It’s his way of fighting. Would I fight that way? No, but I respect him for winning all of his fights his way. That’s what I can say about Rico. A well-deserved champion in his way of fighting. He earned it. Doesn’t matter what they say, Rico was the winner of those fights.”

The Rotterdam, Netherlands native will be making his debut at GLORY 29 in Copenhagen, but now that he is a part of the promotion, he is very excited about the opportunity to fight in the U.S. Londt had fights scheduled in the States before, but they fell through, he said. So he’s looking forward to making his American debut soon.

“I really, really like the states,” he said excitedly. “For me it’s really exciting to fight in the states.I hope I can show something different, not by bragging or something, but by my way of fighting. I like MMA, of course. I like boxing a lot. I got asked to train with an MMA fighter soon. I can’t comment because the deal is not done yet. I think my future is in the states. If it’s by helping MMA fighters with their standing work or sparring, but I think the future will eventually be in the states.”

In his last fight, Londt lost by technical knockout to Badr Hari under the Akhmat FC banner in Chechnya, with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov in attendance, who is a close friend of Hari. He suffered a knockdown only seconds into the fight, and got put down another time in the opening round, which was a questionable call. So not only did he have a slow start, the officiating wasn’t exactly impartial either. He came back to floor Hari in the second, but also got dropped for a third time. In the final round there was another controversial knockdown and the fight was waved off do to a “four knockdown” rule.

“What can I say about the fight?” he began. “I’m not one for excuses and stuff like that. I took the fight on short notice and I got a little emotional and I got an eight count in seven seconds. Normal fighters and kickboxers… I don’t want to comment, but when they get an eight count from Badr Hari they are gonna fight in defense. They are gonna fight backwards. I was like, ‘fuck it. You are from Amsterdam. I’m from Rotterdam, we are just gonna make war. If I’m gonna die today I’m gonna die like a man.’ Then I started fighting forward and I got another eight count. I gave him an eight count. And in the last round he gave me a right straight on my left hand–on my guard–and I slipped and then they stopped the fight. I was like, ‘what? What are you doing?’ If this is the way you want to win, well I respect that you won the fight. I can’t say too much about it. I took the fight like a man and I took the loss like a man.”

“Mr. Pain” is undoubtedly itching to get back into the win column and to make some noise in the GLORY 29 “Contender” tournament. He is putting the pressure on himself to make a surge for the top of the heavyweight kickboxing mountain and admitted that the clock is ticking and he must perform at his best.

“Yeah, of course. No doubt bro. I really trained hard for this fight and it’s really important for me to win this ‘Contender’ tournament to show the people who I am and what I stand for. Now I’ve had the time to train and now is the time to prove myself. I’m 30 years old right now. I have to do it now. It’s now or never.”

Muay thai has been a way of life for Kevin Ross (30-9), who began training in art of eight limbs back in 2003. It’s taken him to Thailand, put him up against some of the best in the world and led him to multiple titles. But on April 16, 2016, he will be putting his elbow strikes on hold as he steps in the ring for the debut of Bellator Kickboxing in Turino, Italy, against Matteo Taccini.

*For clarification, Bellator Kickboxing — like GLORY and K-1 rules — forbids the use of elbow strikes, which is common place in muay thai.

After the former Lion Fight champion finished out his contract and became a free agent, Bellator president Scott Coker paid a visit to the CSA gym, where he trains, and told him the plans for Bellator Kickboxing and expressed his interest in bringing him into the fold.

“I’ve known Scott Coker for a very long time and he came by our gym and let me know what he was looking to do,” Ross told MMAmania.com. “My contract with Lion Fight was up and I was kind of a free agent and it was just the right time and the right opportunity so I jumped on board.”

Coker really sold the deal to the California-based fighter by informing him he wouldn’t have to be exclusive to Bellator Kickboxing and could still seek out muay thai fights, which was music to Ross’ ears because he’d have the best of both worlds and would still get to fulfill his passion for muay thai.

“He told me he wanted me to fight other places and stay busy whenever they weren’t keeping me busy and I told him I would sign with him that day,” Ross recalled. “It was a no-brainer. I’ve been waiting my whole career for someone to say that.”

Being inactive for long periods of time was his “biggest hindrance over the years,” he says. That, unfortunately, is nothing new for American muay thai fighters. Lion Fight is the biggest American promotion for muay thai and is featured on AXS TV, but after that the shows are much smaller and traveling over seas to get fights is common place. Ross is a well-known name, but now he gets to step on the biggest stage of his career and in front of much larger television audience in Spike TV.

Sometimes he has to stop and let it sink in that’s it is truly a reality.

“Everything with fighting to me has always been so surreal from day one,” said Ross, who was up on the dais in Houston for the official announcement of Bellator Kickboxing. “It took me so long to get into this sport and to get over all my own fears and doubts of doing it.  All I ever wanted was to get in there once. To be here after all these years it just boggles my mind that this is really the place I’ve gotten to. I still feel like the person who stepped into the gym day one. I’ve never felt any different than that. It’s all very surreal for me. I’m very happy and I feel very fortunate and blessed to be doing this.”

Ross, 35, almost signed on with GLORY kickboxing a few years ago, but it never materialized due to contract issues with Lion Fight. With his current deal he now has the freedom to fight when and wherever he wants and the full support of Coker, which is something he felt he wasn’t getting from his last promotion, who recently came under fire for not paying Tiffany van Soest after her last title fight. In fact, Ross feels like many fighters within that promotion aren’t getting the support they truly deserve.

He opened up about the van Soest ordeal:

“What I can say is it’s very unfortunate,” he said. “I feel that a promotion, their first priority should be taking care of the fighters. Maybe not the people that aren’t their product, maybe the people who are pushing their promotion. The promotion is the face of it, but the people that are in there are the ones  putting in all the blood, sweat and tears, particularly the ones who are the main event and your champions. And the fact that she felt she had to go out on social media and put them out there like that really let me know some things need to change.

“I’ve fought for plenty of promoters who have contacted me right after a fight like, ‘hey can you wait a week or two to deposit this check?’ Yeah, sure no problem. I know things happen sometimes it takes sometimes for money to come through and things like that, but when there is not that communication and you show up at the bank and that check bounces. That should never happen, especially more than once. For her to feel like she needed to go out there and do that shows you that there wasn’t that kind of communication or that kind of respect. It’s very unfortunate and terrible that it happened, but it shows you that some things need to change in that organization.”

Van Soest, who recently signed on with GLORY and Invicta FC, “is not the only person it’s ever happened to,” Ross said, but being in the spotlight she has the profile necessary to get the world out for other fighters, he added.

“For her to put that out there… One, it is kind of a selfless thing to do because there can be a lot of backlash from that, but to be that person to kind of say, ‘hey this is not right,’ someone at that level needs to do it. It’s not like you can have someone on the undercard say it, no one is going to care. It is something that needed to have a light shed on it. I’m sure Lion Fight is not the only promotion that does things like this. It happens and it’s unfortunate, but things do need to change. You do need to take care of your product, which is your fighters.”

Ross, has family from Sicily and said the last time he traveled to Italy was a vacation when he was 14 years old. He is really looking forward to having some of his relatives come to watch him fight in his debut and expects the style of his opponent, Taccini to make for an exciting and fan-friendly bout.

“He is a tough guy,” said Ross. “He is aggressive. I’m sure he is very motivated.  A win over me would be huge, especially from such an unknown name. I go in there like I am facing the best fighter in the world every time and I prepare myself accordingly. I don’t think there is anything you could possibly do that would surprise me. I’m always looking forward to having someone that is going to bring that energy and intensity. The worst thing in the world for me is to have to go chase someone around.”

Being an American on foreign soil is nothing new for Ross, and he knows those fighters are usually gunning to take him out, which he wholeheartedly embraces: “That is going to bring out the best in everybody. You need that kind of energy on both sides. A great fighter brings out the best in every fighter. That is what I am looking forward to.”

Things couldn’t be going any better for the Bellator Kickboxing bantamweight. Not only has he gotten what he feels is his biggest opportunity of his career, but he recently reconciled with his old girlfriend, retired MMA fighter and current action-movie actress, Gina Carano.

“It is a very cool story,” Ross said. “We started dating in 2001 before either one of us ever set foot in a gym. We were together for four years. I started fighting in 2003 and she kind of followed along about six months later. We ended up splitting up. We were kind of going in two different directions. We always remained close friends off and on through a decade apart and then it just was the right time and things just came together. We actually got back together on the 14 year anniversary of the day we met. So, yeah we are back together. Almost 10 months.”

Don’t expect any nuggets on whether or not Carano — who was recently in the Marvel movie, “Deadpool” — Ross keeps that close to the vest.

“People are always looking for that inside tip about what’s going on and what she is doing, but she is doing her thing and if she wants to talk about what exactly it is, she can,” he explained. “I’m not going to put her out there like that.”

Ross knows he’s not a young fighter and he fully embraces it saying, “I’ve been old since I started.” He’s aware that being on the plus side of thirty isn’t always a positive in a young man’s game, but feels as long as he still has his love for it and his health is okay, he’s not entertaining too many thoughts about his fighting mortality.

“As long as I still love it and as long as I’m still healthy enough to do it and I don’t feel like I’m declining,” Ross said. “I still feel like I’m getting better and better every day. I don’t think I’ve lost a step at all. If anything I’m better than I’ve ever been. I haven’t kind of viewed that. Sometimes those thoughts do come up, but those are thoughts that have come up the first day I started an actually it was something that kept me from pursuing this for years and years. I felt like I was too old when I started back in 2003. I realized I’ve had these questions since day one. There is really no reason to have them. If I feel like I’m still improving or at least not declining, I’m still going to do this. And I still love it. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be doing this.”

For those that haven’t seen him compete yet, Ross gave his reasons for why you should tune in to Bellator Kickboxing’s first show, which airs via delay on Friday April 22, 2016  at 11 p.m. ET on Spike TV, immediately following Bellator 153.

“Same thing everybody likes. I always put on exciting fights. I always go in there to make that my first priority. It’s always to put on the best fights I can possibly put on. Above and beyond winning the fight, I want to put on an exciting fight. I might not fight the smartest way because of that, but when you leave after seeing me fight you know you got your money’s worth. You know it’s entertaining and you are going to want to see me fight again no matter what the actual results are. So, people can always take that to the bank that they got their money’s worth. If you see me on the card you’re not gonna want to miss it.”