Robin van Roosmalen, the GLORY kickboxing double champion, has signed on with Bellator MMA.
Bellator has added some more striking power to its roster. Following the likes of Joe Schilling and Gokhan Saki to MMA, Robin van Roosmalen is the latest decorated kickboxer to make the switch in sports. Bellator CEO Scott Coker announced that he had signed the two-weight class champion on Tuesday.
Pleased to announce @RobinVRoosmalen has signed with @BellatorMMA.
Get ready for the upcoming featherweight grand prix. 😉 pic.twitter.com/oLQn03NQao
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) May 28, 2019
Right off the bat, Coker added “get ready for the upcoming featherweight grand prix” — a hint at exactly when van Roosmalen will make his debut.
The Dutch kickboxer, 29, actually has two MMA bouts under his belt already – both wins. He has not competed in the sport since 2017, however. To date, he has been best known for winning belts in two weight classes in GLORY — earning both the featherweight and lightweight titles in the kickboxing organization.
The Bellator featherweight world grand prix, meanwhile, is expected to kick off in October. Sixteen men will start out in the tournament, with the first round of action taking place in a single night, a significant change from recent grand prix tournaments in the promotion.
Names expected to take part in the tournament include double-champ Patricio Pitbull, undefeated phenom A.J. McKee, former champ Daniel Straus, and more.
