Dutch-kickboxing sensation Denise Kielholtz seems as though she is ready to make the jump to the Bellator MMA cage after nearly 50 kickboxing bouts.
She hinted at the transition on Twitter after hinting at it initially during post-fight scrums following her successful kickboxing title defense over the weekend.
My 6th World title is In!!. Now its time to dive in the unknown again, the next time you see me fight would be in a Cage..?..#bellator #mma pic.twitter.com/cPK84EsgDf
— Denise Kielholtz (@Denisekielholtz) April 10, 2017
“Miss Dynamite” Denise Kielholtz boasts a ridiculously impressive 46-3 record as a kickboxer. Her resume includes victories over names like Tiffany van Soest and Lucy Payne. A former Enfusion champion, Kielholtz added the Bellator Kickboxing Flyweight Championship to her lengthy resume in December, beating one of few who has a victory against her; Gloria Peritore.
Denise Kielholtz defeated Martine Michieletto via UD (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
This past Saturday at Bellator Kickboxing 5, Kielholtz successfully defended her flyweight title in Torino, Italy. She looked terrific and picked up a comfortable win against Martine Michieletto.
Following the fight, she had this to say about her title defense, as well as her interest in fighting inside a Bellator MMA cage.
“IT WAS A GOOD NIGHT FOR ME WITH THE WIN, BUT IT WAS TOUGH FIGHT. SHE’S A TALLER SOUTHPAW FIGHTER AND SHE REALLY BROUGHT IT. ALL ROUNDS WERE FOR ME AND THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ME. IT’S GREAT TO RETAIN THIS BELT, THIS IS MY BIGGEST PRIZE IN THE SPORT AND I’M HONORED TO BE THE WORLD CHAMPION FOR BELLATOR,” KIELHOLTZ SAID. “REALLY, FOR ME, BELLATOR IS THE BIGGEST KICKBOXING ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD, THEY ARE REALLY FOR THE FIGHTERS, SO I AM VERY HAPPY TO BE REPRESENTING THIS COMPANY. THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME OUT THERE MIGHT BE IN THE BELLATOR CAGE FIGHTING MMA. WE’RE WORKING VERY HARD ON ALL ASPECTS OF MY TRAINING AND SO HOPEFULLY BEFORE THE END OF SUMMER YOU WILL SEE ME FIGHTING MMA.”
A lot of people may not be aware of this, but this would actually not be her mixed martial arts debut. She is 0-1 in MMA. In October of 2015, “Miss Dynamite” traveled to Suriname and fought Juliete de Souza Silva at Torarica Summer Fights 1. To no one’s surprise, Silva exploited the striker’s lack of ground game and earned a first-round submission win.
However, over a year has passed, and Denise Kielholtz is shining brighter than ever in her kickboxing career. So her time to transition and be successful may be right now. Much like fellow-kickboxer Robin van Roosmalen, who also recently begun to take MMA fights, Kielholtz has quite an extensive background in Judo.
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