According to a published report, kickboxing legend and mixed martial arts fighted Semmy Schilt has retired from combat sports.
Liverkick.com reported that the Netherlands native, who turns 40 in October, has bowed out of competition due to a heart condition.
Schilt is a four-time K-1 World Grand Prix champion, with tournament victories in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009. His 2005-07 run marks the only time a fighter won three consecutive Grand Prix.
Schilt, of course, also had a considerable mixed martial arts career, with the majority of his bouts conducted during the sport’s early era.
Schilt excelled in Pancrase, claiming an Openweight King of Pancrase crown and competing against a who’s who of the early days of the Japanese scene, from Yuki Kondo to Guy Mezger to Masakatsu Funaki. Schilt also fought for several years in PRIDE, where he had high-profile losses to the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Josh Barnett.
On these shores, Schilt is best remembered for his nasty finish of Pete Williams at UFC 31 in Atlantic City.
His last MMA fight was a first-round submission of “Mighy Mo” Siliga on a Dec. 31, 2008 K-1 Dynamite card. His final kickboxing bout was on Dec. 31 of last year, a first-round TKO of Daniel Ghita in Saitama, Japan.
He finishes with a kickboxing record of 43-6-1 and an MMA record of 26-14-1.