Nieky was demolishing everyone until Cedric Doumbe. I think Doumbe is the future of kickboxing. His evasive style is entertaining and effective, especially against guys like Holzken who are static and like to exchange in the pocket. But then, Nabiyev came along and destroyed him...? Holzken couldn't get off in that fight at all. It was nothing like the Nieky who demolished Valtellini and Daniels twice. Why is this...? P.S: Speaking of Joe Valtellini, is there any news on where he's at with his PCS? Is he ever fighting again? Dude was legit...
Welterweight is a weak division lead by people who couldn't cut it in Lightweight. Doumbe seems somewhat legit, though.
doubt he comes back. Too comfortable being a commentator compared to getting punched in the face for shit money.
His record wasn't all that great when he fought in lighter weight classes i don't think he ever was as good as people think.
Think Doumbe announced he is planning on moving to MMA a while ago so dunno about him being the future of kb anymore. Don't know if he is still doing some kb or will he do both or maybe gets some MMA fight, gets beat and back to kb.
He has a perfect style for MMA striking. Hope his grappling will be on a decent level if this rumor is true.
Holzken doesn't know how to be consistently aggressive and loses fights because he's too passive. He's got the skill and a decent amount of tools he's just too cautious in the ring. He seemed indestructible for a moment there but his opponents weren't the greatest and the division was weak.
He didn't seem that way against Bazooka Joe or Daniels... I'd say he's more inconsistent than passive.
He was certainly passive against Daniels for a few rounds before he marched him down. The war with Joe was an anomily. I've been watching him fight since he was in K-1 MAX.
Also has a gym he teaches at. Some guys are ammy competitors in mma and kickboxing and I believe Rob Thomas did his last camp or two there
Well daniels isn't on his level and neither is joe. Daniels all you have to do is let him throw his flashy shit, tire him then press him and he goes down.
no competition got better and he started to lose and have more competitive fights Murthel,Doumbe,Kongolo and Nabiev are way better than Daniels,Valtellini and near 40´s like Ghaji and hen he faced an old Direkçi he is good but not the "god" people thought
No idea. Sadly had to leave because I was moving. Very well could be, we had guys stopping in from time to time
Am I the only one thinking it's because of his boxing...He might be used to the slow fighting because in boxing you have 12 rounds. It seems he always starts too late with fighting or what other people might say ''doing nothing'' ''passive''. He has a good ranking in boxing and if I were him I would go with boxing.
He fights cans in boxing with 4 or 6-round fights. Don’t see him doing well there. Too static and lacking in head movement. Would get pieced up at a higher level. Idk about the rest. Maybe something in the Doumbe loss made him psychologically question his future in KB? Idk
You forget one thing...nobody high wants to fight him, because they know he is a good kickboxer, thus also a good boxer in some way. They will lose huge image if they lose. He NEEDS to fight lower guys in the rankings to get more points and climb in the ranking, just like any fighter by the way. You can say a lot, but you can't say he only WANTS to fight easy fighters... He is ranked number 45 or something now? Just give him time to climb, would be awesome to see a kickboxer high in the rankings.