Donovan Wisse admits the road to GLORY 107 has been a frustrating one. Originally preparing to move up in weight for a light heavyweight title fight against Bahram Rajabzadeh, Wisse is now back in middleweight mode for a title defense against reigning GLORY welterweight champion Chico Kwasi. GLORY announced the updated main event for April 25 in Rotterdam as a champion-vs.-champion clash, with Kwasi moving up to challenge Wisse for the middleweight belt.

“To be honest, it’s been a difficult road,” Wisse said. “I was moving up in weight, and now I’m dropping back down to middleweight again. Camp has been good, but the weight cut has been a little frustrating. Still, that comes with the sport. Nothing is certain until you step into the ring.”

Wisse said Kwasi presents a completely different challenge from the opponents he has dealt with in recent years.

“He throws everything from every angle,” Wisse said. “Sometimes when he lets his shots go, you think, ‘What did he just do?’ You don’t really have sparring partners who can match him because of his long arms and the different things he does. But we’re sharp, our timing is good, our eyes are good, and we’re ready.”

Despite the late switch, Wisse made it clear that his long-term goal has not changed: he still wants to become a two-division champion.

“I still want to move up. I still want both belts,” he said. “If I had known eight weeks earlier that I’d be fighting Chico, I would have trained very differently. But I’m almost there now, and I’ll be on weight. That won’t be a problem.”

Already widely regarded as the most accomplished middleweight champion in GLORY history, Wisse said his success is rooted in a simple mentality:winning.

“I don’t do this sport to play,” he said. “I come to win. I do everything for the win. My mentality is a winning mentality. I want to show these guys every fight that I’m better than them.”

That mindset was evident in his most recent outing against Michael Boapeah, a fight in which Wisse said he had to dig deep through multiple injuries to secure the victory.

Yeah, I was busted up. My calves were swollen and purple. He really did good damage with the calf kicks. But I can deal with pain. I say to my pupils and to myself: pain is pain. Pain is good. I love pain — well, I don’t like pain — but I know how to deal with pain. It doesn’t faze me.

Source: LowKickMMA.com