Petpanomrung Kiatmuu9 (left), Rico Verhoeven (center), Robin van Roosmalen (right)
GLORY kickboxing is the biggest kickboxing promotion and home to the best kickboxers in the world. GLORY is considered the UFC of kickboxing, where winning the title makes a kickboxer a legitimate world champion in combat sport.
GLORY kickboxing emerged in 2012 in response to the downfall of the legendary Japanese K-1 promotion to continue promoting the sport and putting on exciting shows. Since then, there have been many legendary kickboxers who reached the pinnacle of GLORY promotion, and in this article, we are bringing you the 15 best ones that every kickboxing fan should know about.
15. Remy Bonjasky
Bonjasky is widely regarded as one of the most successful and entertaining kickboxers in the history of the sport. He fought during the heydays of K-1, where he managed to win the prestigious World GP title three times in 2003, 2004, and 2008. These accomplishments along with all the great knockouts he scored solidified his status as one of the greatest fighters ever.
Inside the ring, Bonjasky was a master in using his long reach and athleticism to pick his opponents apart from the distance, primarily relying on heavy kicks and flying knees, which was his signature move. Fans loved him because he never was in a boring fight.
Throughout his career, Remy Bonjasky faced and defeated some of the top names in kickboxing, including Alistair Overeem, Badr Hari, and Jerome Le Banner. After retiring from K-1, he signed with Glory. However, he didn’t win any titles, mainly because he was already out of his prime.
14. Badr Hari
Badr Hari is by many considered the Conor McGregor of the kickboxing world. His bad-boy image, charming persona, media presence, and spectacular fighting skills brought millions of fans into the sport, making him a global superstar.
Hari spent his prime years fighting in the K-1 promotion in the 2000s during the glory days. His most significant achievement was winning the K-1 heavyweight title by beating Yusuke Fujimoto in 2008. Despite beating the best of the best, he never won the World Grand Prix.
Hari would sign with Glory in 2016 when he was already out of his prime years. Despite the losing streak, he was still selling out stadiums and putting on solid performances, especially in his two title fights against Rico Verhoeven. In fact, the “old” Hari came the closest to beating Verhoeven of all other contenders who tried.
13. Simon Marcus
Simon Marcus is a former two-time Glory middleweight champion. He grew up training in Muay Thai where, before transitioning to kickboxing, he was able to win the prestigious WBC, WMC and WCK Muay Thai World Titles.
Marcus transitioned to kickboxing in 2008 and started his career by winning 17 fights in a row in a single year. In the following years, he extended his undefeated record to 39-0 before signing with Glory in 2014. Two years later, in 2016, Marcus won the middleweight championship by beating Artem Levin at Glory 21 and successfully defended it against Dustin Jacoby.
Despite losing the title to Jason Wilnis, Marcus bounced back and won the rematch at Glory 40 to become a middleweight champ for the second time.
12. Tyrone Spong
Tyrone Spong is among the most underrated kickboxers of all time. He has competed in various weight classes, including Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, and Middleweight. The majority of fans know him for his legendary fights in promotions like “It’s Showtime,” “K-1”, and “Glory.”
While competing for these three promotions, he beat some of the legends of the sport like Melvin Manhoef, Peter Aerts, and Remy Bonjasky. He also won the “It’s Showtime” 95MAX World Title in 2008 and later the Glory 95kg Slam Tournament in 2013.
In his career, he won 107 fights, 73 of which were knockouts. What made him better than the rest were his exceptional boxing skills, which, combined with his natural athleticism and power, made him one of the most feared kickboxers on the planet.
Apart from kickboxing, Spong has also fought in professional boxing and MMA. As a boxer, Spong compiled an undefeated record of 14–0 and became the WBC and WBO Latino heavyweight champion.
11. Giorgio Petrosyan
Petrosyan is often referred to as “The Doctor” because of his technical proficiency. With a record of 105 wins and only 3 losses in pro kickboxing competitions, he is widely regarded as the greatest of all time. In his career, he won all the prestigious titles and tournaments such as:
- Glory Slam Tournament Champion (2012)
- K-1 World MAX Championship (2009)
- K-1 World MAX Championship (2010)
- ISKA Super Welterweight Champion
- ONE Featherweight champion (2019)
Petrosyan was one of the first to sign a contract with Glory in 2012, and he became the first winner of the 70kg tournament by beating Robin van Roosmalen at the Glory 3 event. He also attempted to win the lightweight tournament, but surprisingly, he lost in the semi-finals to Andy Ristie.
10. Alex Pereira
Before transitioning to MMA, where he became a UFC champion in two different weight classes, Pereira was doing the same thing in Kickboxing. Like in MMA, he was among the most feared fighters thanks to his incredible punching power and exceptional striking skills.
After winning the WGP World Title, Pereira signed with Glory as one of the hottest prospects. In 2017, he won the middleweight title by beating Simon Marcus at Glory 46.
After defending it three times, he then won the interim Light Heavyweight belt with a brutal flying knee KO over Jason Wilnis at Glory 65 and then unified it by beating Artem Vakhitov at Glory 77 in 2021.
Shortly after, Pereira left Glory to sign with the UFC, where he needed one year to win four fights in a row and beat Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title.
9. Semmy Schilt
Semmy Schilt is not only considered the greatest kickboxer of all time but one of the most accomplished combat sports athletes as well. He signed with the Glory promotion as a champion in the following organizations:
- K-1 World Grand Prix Champion (4 times)
- King of Pancrase Champion (Open weight)
- Multiple Full-Contact Karate Champion
After the collapse of K-1, he transitioned to the newly established Glory promotion in 2012. He fought at the inaugural event where he beat another legend, Errol Zimmerman. After winning another three fights and beating big names like Gokhan Saki and Rico Verhoeven, Schilt got the chance to fight for the heavyweight belt.
At Glory 4, he managed to knock Daniel Ghita out with a wild head kick in the first round to add a Glory championship belt to his legacy.
8. Marat Grigorian
Marat Grigorian has had a successful career in various kickboxing organizations, including Glory Kickboxing. His fighting style is characterized by relentless pressure, heavy punches, and effective low kicks. Fans love him because of his fearless mindset, durability, and action-packed bouts.
He won the Glory lightweight championship in 2019 with a decision win over the legendary Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong. After two successful title defenses, he would leave the promotion as the reigning champion to sign with ONE FC in 2020. However, he failed to repeat the same success despite fighting for ONE’s featherweight title two times.
His other notable achievements include winning the K-1 Super Welterweight Title in 2015 by knocking out Jordann Pikeur. He also won the K-1 70kg tournament the same year.
7. Robin van Roosmalen
Van Roosmalen is a Glory legend. He is a former champion in two separate divisions, known for his aggressive fighting style. Inside the ring, he always pressured forward and relied on his high strike output and cardio to overwhelm the opponent in the early rounds.
Growing up in a kickboxing family, Van Roosmalen started kickboxing at the age of 3. While growing up, he would also train in other martial arts such as Judo where he obtained a black belt rank. However, he put his entire focus on kickboxing during his teenage years, which proved as the right decision.
At Glory 18, he beat Davit Kina to win the lightweight championship and then defended it two times. After losing a title, he dropped a division to featherweight, where he became a three-time featherweight champion.
Outside of Glory, he also won the “It’s Showtime” 70MAX tournament.
6. Nieky Holzken
Holzken is widely regarded as one of the top fighters in the sport. He has competed in various weight classes, including Middleweight and Welterweight, and has achieved success in multiple organizations, most notably in Glory.
Holzken is known for his exceptional striking skills, powerful punches, and highly technical fighting style. In his career, he won many World and European titles. However, the most important of them all is the one he won in Glory.
He won the welterweight tournament with a stoppage win over Joseph Valtellini at Glory 13 in Tokyo 2013. But his best year was 2015, when he beat Raymond Daniels twice to win another tournament and the vacant Glory Welterweight Championship.
In addition to his kickboxing career, Holzken briefly transitioned to professional boxing, where he accumulated a record of 14 wins and 1 loss.
5. Cedric Doumbe
Doumbe is one of the greatest welterweight kickboxers ever. He won the Glory welterweight title twice in his career and was also a World and European champion in other organizations such as WKA and WAKO.
Doumbe discovered kickboxing in his late teens. Despite living in France, he would travel to train in the legendary Meijiro Gym in the Netherlands. Here, he got the chance to train in a gym that pioneered the Dutch style of kickboxing alongside the best fighters and coaches in the world, like Rob Kaman.
In 2021, he retired from kickboxing with a record of 75 wins only 7 losses, and 5 successful Glory welterweight title defenses. Later the same year, he joined the sport of MMA where after 4 wins in a row, he signed with PFL where he knocked Jordan Zebo at PFL Europe 3 in his debut.
Doumbe even signed up with the UFC, but this fight didn’t materialize.
4. Artem Vakhitov
Vakhitov is a Russian kickboxer widely regarded as the most talented striker on the Glory roster. He was trained in multiple striking disciplines, such as karate, Muay Thai, and kickboxing, which enabled him to develop a unique style.
In his long career, he fought both in Muay Thai and kickboxing and was a World Champion in both. His journey in Glory started in 2013, and he won the light heavyweight title three years later at Glory 28 in Paris. He successfully defended it five times before losing a close split decision against Alex Pereira in 2021.
As a dominant champion, he would receive an instant rematch the same year and beat Pereira to become a champion for the second time.
3. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong
Sitsongpeenong is one of the rare Thai fighters who has won major world titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai. Before signing with Glory, he fought in Muay Thai, where he won eight titles, including the prestigious Lumpinee Stadium Welterweight title in 2014 in his native Thailand.
As an already accomplished fighter, he looked for new challenges outside of Thailand. In 2016, he shocked the world by beating Robin van Roosmalen at Glory 31 to win the lightweight title. In the next 2 years, he would defend it six times before losing it to Marat Grigorian at Glory 65.
Immediately after, Sitsongpeenong left the promotion to sign with ONE Championship.
2. Petpanomrung Kiatmuu9
Kiatmookao is the best featherweight Glory fighter in the history of the promotion.
He transitioned to western kickboxing from Muay Thai where he was a WMC lightweight champion. He spent the majority of his Thai boxing career fighting in the legendary Lumpinee and Rajadamnem stadiums in Thailand against the best of the best.
In 2017, he won the Gloy featherweight tournament at Glory 39 and then the interim featherweight title in 2018. He successfully defended it 7 times (as of 2024), which sets the record for most title defenses in this division.
In 2022, Kiatmookao signed with the RISE promotion, where he became a champion in the super lightweight division.
1. Rico Verhoeven
Rico Verhoeven is often considered the greatest heavyweight kickboxer of all time. Though this remains debatable, he is undoubtedly the most dominant Glory heavyweight champion. It’s unlikely that combat sports fans will ever see a heavyweight kickboxer as dominant as Verhoeven is.
Apart from being talented and skillful, Verhoeven is very athletic. He is incredibly fast and agile for a man who weighs close to 280 pounds (125 kg), and this unique mix of power, athleticism, and skill sets him above the rest.
His reign started in 2013 when he first won the heavyweight tournament by beating Daniel Gita at Glory 11. He then beat Gita once again in the rematch to win the heavyweight title at Glory 17 in 2014., Verhoeven would go on to defend his throne more than 10 times and stay undefeated for more than a decade.