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.