Meksen: “I’ll make sure she never wants to get in the ring with me again"

“I’ll make sure she never wants to get in the ring with me again. I want to win this fight in a spectacular way that people remember for a long time afterwards,” snarls Anissa Meksen ahead of next Saturday’s rematch with Tiffany van Soest (18-3-1, 6 KO’s). 
Meksen (97-4, 31 KO’s), the current GLORY super-bantamweight champion, took the belt from Van Soest at GLORY 48 NEW YORK in December 2017. Van Soest has pursued a rematch ever since. March 9 is the day of reckoning.   “She’s a very smart fighter, a very complete set of skills. She’s the best opponent I ever had, actually,” says Meksen.   “I don’t know her on a personal level though, and I want to keep it that way. It’s not that I like or dislike her, I just want to fight her.    “The first time I fought a clever fight. I didn’t want to take too much risk, I just wanted to get the belt. But this time will be different - this time, I want to destroy her.”    Despite coming away with the win at GLORY 48, Meksen does not feel like she put on her best performance. She was the winner by way of unanimous decision, but the fight was closer than the result suggests.    “Our first fight was tough. She was a really game opponent and also my arms and legs just felt heavy, I was suffering from jetlag,” says Meksen.   “I had some trouble adjusting to the time difference and also there was some pressure from the fight being in Madison Square Garden.    “But I feel like I won that fight the day before, at the face-off during the weigh ins. And in the open workouts as well, Tiffany was watching me and she looked nervous.”   In August last year, Meksen made her second defense of the ttitle. Opposite her at GLORY 56 DENVER was Jady Menezes of Brazil, who had already lost to Meksen a year previously.   By almost every onlooker’s account, Menezes lost again. Unfortunatley for Meksen, several ringside judges saw something different. They awarded Menezes the win - and the world championship - by way of split-decision.    It was the most controversial decision in GLORY history. An immediate rematch was ordered. It did not take place until GLORY 61 NEW YORK but when it did, Meksen left no room for doubt: she hammered Menezes relentlessly, forcing a stoppage in the second round.   “I won my belt back by stopping her and that’s how I want to win all my fights from now on. I am the world number one at this weight for the last four years and after this fight I will still be number one,” says Meksen.   “It’s a status I want to maintain. At the end of the fight [with Tiffany] it will be my name you hear, my hand being raised.”   Anissa Meksen defends the world super-bantamweight championship against Tiffany van Soest at GLORY 64 STRASBOURG next weekend, Saturday March 9, at the Rhenus Sport venue in Strasbourg, France.   The event is headlined by welterweight champion Harut Grigorian defending his belt against former champion Cedric Doumbe and airs live worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS and in France on RMC Sport 4.