Why ‘baffled’ Cris Lencioni won’t fight Robin van Roosmalen after big Bellator 232 weight miss

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Why ‘baffled’ Cris Lencioni won’t fight Robin van Roosmalen after big Bellator 232 weight miss

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Cris Lencioni’s morning was going well, until he encountered an unexpected twist.

The 25-year-old featherweight was one of the first from Saturday’s Bellator 232 event to weigh in on Friday morning.

The American Top Team Portland product tipped the scales at 145.25 pounds, three-quarters of a pound under the limit for a non-title contest. All was going smoothly before he left to rehydrate and eat a big meal.

But, when it came time for his opponent Robin van Roosmalen (2-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) to weigh in, the craziness began. Contracted to a featherweight fight with Lencioni (5-2 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), van Roosmalen weighed over nine pounds heavier than the divisional limit at 155.25.

While commission head Mike Mazzulli said they’d allow the fight to carry on, Bellator and Lencioni could not comes to terms.

After weigh-ins, MMA Junkie spoke to Lencioni, who shed light on the situation.

“We were at the media day yesterday and I’m not like a (expletive) talker or a crap talker, but I met (van Roosmalen) and he seemed like a nice guy,” Lencioni said. “I could just feel something was off. I felt something was off and then I just knew. I don’t know how to explain it. I just had a feeling and you can call it whatever you want.”

In Lencioni’s mind, the miss wasn’t an accident. The fight was scheduled to be van Roosmalen’s first for a major MMA promotion. Lencioni thinks he may have gotten cold feet.

“I won’t get preachy up here,” Lencioni said. “Ten pounds? That’s a difference where someone does that intentionally to get out of a fight. I think his camp picked me and then realized, ‘Oh crap. This guy is legit.’

“… I’m baffled. Ten pounds is a whole other weight class. Weight classes exist for a reason. I will move down. I’m not moving up. I’m a nice scrawny guy. I like my muscles.”

If it was a pound, or two pounds, or even five, Lencioni indicated the situation would be different. But van Roosmalen nearly missed by double digits, which is simply too much for Lencioni to justify.

While he veered away from revealing any “pillow talk” between himself and the promotion, Lencioni said he didn’t like the offers presented to him to keep the fight afloat. Given the circumstances, Lencioni didn’t feel comfortable fighting for anything less than what he was due. To do so would be a disservice to MMA.

“I put some feelers out there and I didn’t really like what I was hearing,” Lencioni said. “I’ve got to treat this professionally, not personally. Too many fighters are too emotional. This is a business. We’ve got to take this seriously. If someone doesn’t, it just belittles and degrades the sport.”

On top of preventing him from getting a win bonus and ruining his opportunity to compete this weekend, Lencioni sees van Roosmalen’s miss as a potential shift in attention from media and fans.

“I was ready to fight and I know I was going to win,” Lencioni said. “That’s a fact. Ten pounds is too much. It’s disrespectful. It’s so unprofessional from a three-time world champion in another sport.

“‘GLORY kickboxing champion misses weight (by) ten pounds.’ That’s the headline. It’s going to steal my thunder, man. Instead of, ‘Cris Sunshine knocks out three-time glory champion.’”

Bellator 232 takes place Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Why 'baffled' Cris Lencioni won't fight Robin van Roosmalen after big Bellator 232 weight miss