Glory Champ Nieky Holzken teaches Belfort about Striking

[Masato]

Glory’s current welterweight champion, Nieky Holzken, knows a thing or two about high level striking. He’s 88-11-0 in his pro kickboxing career and is widely considered as one of the best in the world.

In the clip above we get to see him sparring hard with UFC lightweight Michael Johnson. They go at it until Holzken clearly rocks him. They keep going at it but the video cuts out as they finish up.

Then we see Holzken working with UFC middleweight Vitor Belfort, showing him some new stuff, like a knee-kick combo.

Is MMA really still so far behind? Even guys like Belfort who have spent a lifetime refining his stand-up skills?

[Luigi]

Is MMA really still so far behind? Even guys like Belfort who have spent a lifetime refining his stand-up skills?

In offense, yes. Think about what old man Melvin Manhoef does to MMA guys even after he has been KO'd 100 times. But when it comes to striking defense with bare fists or small gloves the average elite MMA guy is just as good if not better than the elite kickboxers. In kickboxing they develop the habit of shelling up for defense, which works with big gloves but now without them. Nieky is one of very few kickboxers who actually has developed elite defense, the other guy known for it is Petrosyan.

You may also be interested to hear that Nieky is a professional boxer now and is being trained by Floyd Mayweather's uncle. He is like 9-0 now.

[Edge Guerrero]

Glory’s current welterweight champion, Nieky Holzken, knows a thing or two about high level striking. He’s 88-11-0 in his pro kickboxing career and is widely considered as one of the best in the world.

In the clip above we get to see him sparring hard with UFC lightweight Michael Johnson. They go at it until Holzken clearly rocks him. They keep going at it but the video cuts out as they finish up.

Then we see Holzken working with UFC middleweight Vitor Belfort, showing him some new stuff, like a knee-kick combo.

Is MMA really still so far behind? Even guys like Belfort who have spent a lifetime refining his stand-up skills?

- Only if you bellieve this person if p4p on mma.



:evil: