It was a banner year for GLORY kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven. The 26-year-old superstar defended his title three times in 2015, all the while making a successful transition into the world of mixed martial arts (MMA).
Verhoeven defeated Errol Zimmerman via technical knockout (knee injury) in a trilogy match last February, before sending Romanian knockout machine Benjamin Adegbuyi packing twice. “Prince of Kickboxing” then made the move to the cage in October when he collided with unknown German Viktor Bogutzki.
The result was a one-sided drubbing on the part of Verhoeven, who took out Bogutzki with strikes on the ground just over two minutes into their meeting in Romania. Now, with a sliver of time to himself, Verhoeven spoke with MMAmania.com about the year that was and his future plans in MMA and GLORY.
You were quite active in 2015, was it nice to finally sit back and marvel on all that you accomplished?
After Dec. 4, I had to deal with all the craziness and media here in Holland with TV shows and stuff like that. During Christmas time, it was quite relaxed and of course on New Year’s Eve. Right after the New Year, all the craziness comes back again. It’s been busy, but all positive. Even though they drain my energy, they give me a lot of it as well.
Having won this latest rematch against Benjamin in stunning fashion, what made the biggest difference between this meeting and the one that went the distance back in June?
I went into the second fight with the mindset that he’s going to be a little fitter than the first time. The first time he just jumped in right away and put up a high pace. In the first fight, I wasn’t really trying to pressure. I walked into the jab a few times. With the second fight, I wanted to start off with a high pace as well so I’m not going to be behind on points. I started with a lot of movement and he was relaxed. I knew he was scared for five rounds. He thought if I push this kind of pace again, I won’t make it. It gave me a lot of extra confidence.
With that being said, when do you plan on stepping foot back inside a GLORY ring to make your fourth title defense?
I’m always working on things that can go better. There’s always room for improvement, but I’m not sure. GLORY decides my opponent. For me, every opponent is good. Every time I step in the ring, I’m happy that there’s someone in front that’s trying to take the belt from me. It’s another goal to show I’m the best.
Much has been made of the heavyweight division and it’s lack of up-and-coming contenders. What do you make of it?
For now, the guys I’ve beaten are the top names and they’ve beaten all the rest. All the Top-5 guys, I’ve beat as well. They’re just the top guys now. A guy like [Gohkan] Saki, he’s a great fighter, but he dropped to the -95 division. If he would jump up in the division, it isn’t the same Saki that he was four … five years ago. For the rest, they’re all guys like we had 6-8 years ago Remy [Bonjasky] and Semmy [Schilt]. They’re already in their mid-thirties. I’m a young guy coming up and I think this is a new era in kickboxing and I’m on top.
I wanted to learn more about when you began preparations for your first MMA fight. Take me through that and why it was the right time.
We started in August. We didn’t really know when the next kickboxing fight was going to be so I discussed with the team and I think that this is the right moment for an MMA fight. Everybody agreed on it and then it happened. The basis [being] I just love combat sports. I love boxing, kickboxing, and MMA. I already did pro boxing and had my debut. That was fun, but in the end still, I was missing something.
If you take a look at my body structure, my legs are my strength. With me being the best stand-up fighter there is right now, I think the easiest step was me going towards MMA. What made it even more fun for me, is it’s new. I’ve been kickboxing since I was six. It gives me joy. Kickboxing became more about repetition. When you do new things that work, you get excited.
Do you go elsewhere in Holland for MMA training?
With Dennis [Krauweel], I just do the stand-up part. I also do MMA in my power trainer’s gym. The guy that teaches there is a brown belt in Judo and black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I’m learning a lot. I’ve even been wrestling in Amsterdam with Gegard Mousasi’s team … been sparring with Gegard every Saturday. As long as I’m in Holland, I can always train with Gegard. He’s always open for me and we learn from each other. He’s a great mixed martial artist, but he’s also a great kickboxer. I’m a good kickboxer and I’m learning the MMA game, so we can help each other. I’ll ask him if something works, and if not, ask if I should do something else instead.
How would you grade your performance against Viktor?
It was fun and that’s one of the most important things to me. If you jump in there, you’ve got to have fun. I think maybe even for me, the first few seconds, it wasn’t fun. I was like, ‘Oh shit, now it’s going to happen [laughs].’ I enjoyed myself in there. Getting [hit] the first two punches, it was the real deal. I felt my lips swell up. The defense you have with kickboxing is totally different than what you have with MMA. I have to work on that and do more sparring. I see a lot of more fun things in the future.
For some combat sports athletes, they might not want to devote their attention to multiple sports at a time. Do you believe you can compete in kickboxing and MMA simultaneously?
Yeah, why not? It’s the same thing that I’m doing more and more entertainment and going towards acting as well. For me, personally, I think it’s just important you have to keep things separated and if you keep things separated, it shouldn’t be a problem. If I’m filming a movie, I’m just filming a movie. I’m not going to plan a fight close to that. If I’m fighting kickboxing, I’m going to focus on my stand-up part. If I’m fighting MMA, I’m going to make sure I have two-two and a half months to focus on that part.
As we begin to wind down, do you have an ideal date in mind for your return to GLORY?
I’m not sure to be honest, they’re talking about some stuff, but I haven’t heard a date. I’m just chilling and waiting. I’m always training, always fit. I’m planning to come to the U.S. to train some MMA. For me, it’s a busy schedule because I’m always doing clinics, photoshoots, and it’s great.
Where do you hope to train in the states?
We’re looking at different gyms. I want to stay as close as possible to L.A. and I want to do the movie audition and stuff like that. My management gave me like six or seven options to try. Dennis and I are trying to pick like three of them and from there we’re going to go and see which one fits best. I did a big audition for a huge movie and I’m still waiting on that.
For more GLORY news and notes click here.