Nieky Holzken

After his parents separated when he was an infant, Nieky was raised up by his paternal grandparents.^[4] Inspired by martial arts movies, he started training kickboxing at the age of ten.^[2]

Nieky Holzken made his K-1 debut on November 26, 2006, at K-1 World MAX North European Qualification in Stockholm, Sweden. He won the tournament by three consecutive KO's over Björn Kjöllerström, Joakim Karlsson and Elias Daniel. The win qualified him for the K-1 World MAX 2007 Final Elimination, where he was matched up against the reigning K-1 MAX champion Buakaw Por. Pramuk. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

He faced Murat Direkçi at Glory 2: Brussels on October 6, 2012, in Brussels, Belgium^[5] and won via TKO due to a cut in the second round.^[6]

He defeated Karim Ghajji via TKO due to a cut in an extension round at Glory 6: Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey on April 6, 2013.^[7][8][9]

He was to fight at SLAMM!! - Soema na Basi IV: Londt vs. Adegbuyi in Paramaribo, Suriname on August 8, 2013^[10] but withdrew for undisclosed reasons.

He was initially scheduled to fight Marc de Bonte in the Glory 13: Tokyo - Welterweight World Championship Tournament semi-finals in Tokyo, Japan on December 21, 2013^[11] but his opponent was then changed to Karapet Karapetyan who he had previously fought and beat in February 2012 by decision.^[12] He knocked Karapetyan down in rounds one and two en route to a clear unanimous decision win before facing Joseph Valtellini in the final. In a back-and-forth fight where both pressed forward, landing powerful but technical punches and kicks, Holzken scored a TKO in the dying seconds of the third and final round to be crowned the inaugural Glory World Welterweight (-77.1 kg/170 lb) Tournament Champion.^[13]

He was set to fight for the inaugural Glory Welterweight Championship against Marc de Bonte at Glory 14: Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia on March 8, 2014^[14] but the fight was cancelled when he suffered a shoulder injury in a car accident.^[15] The match was rescheduled for Glory 16: Denver in Broomfield, Colorado, US on May 3, 2014^[16] but his lingering shoulder injury again forced him out, and he was replaced by Karapet Karapetyan.^[17]

On February 6, 2015, Holzken was part of a one-night, four-man welterweight tournament at Glory 19 to determine who would get the next title shot. In the semifinals, he faced Alexander Stetsurenko and won via unanimous decision. In the finals, he faced Raymond Daniels and won via TKO in the third round.

On April 16, 2016, he defeated Yoann Kongolo. After the match-up Holzken expressed his desire to in-ring commentator Joseph Valtellini that he wished to face him again.

On July 2, 2018, Holzken announced on his social media that he had rejected a contract offer from Glory and was entertaining offers from other promotions.^[18]

Since 2013, Holzken had competed in professional boxing alongside his kickboxing career, but in February 2018 he got the biggest opportunity in the sport when he stepped in at late notice to face Callum Smith in the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament. The Dutchman was 13-0 coming in, and Smith 23-0.^[19] Smith took the win by unanimous decision, and then went on to KO George Groves in the final.

Holzken returned to kickboxing when he signed for ONE Championship, making his debut with a second round KO over Cosmo Alexandre at ONE Championship: Warrior's Dream in November 2018.^[20]

He would challenge Regian Eersel for the inaugural ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship at ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon in May 2019 and lose via unanimous decision.^[21] The two would rematch for the title in October 2019 at ONE Championship: Dawn of Valor, but Holzken lost again via unanimous decision.^[22]

It was announced that Nieky Holzken would face Elliot Compton at ONE Championship: Big Bang 2 on December 11, 2020. It was also revealed that Holzken had signed a six-fight contract extension with ONE after his original contract expired.^[23][24] Holzken knocked Compton out in the first round, with a liver shot.^[25]

Holzken faced John Wayne Parr in a Muay Thai bout at ONE on TNT 3 on April 21, 2021.^[26] He won the bout via TKO after dropping Parr with a head kick in the second round.^[27] A mere fortnight after the bout Holzken announced that his contract had expired and he became a free agent.^[28]

On September 13, 2021, Holzken announced that he had signed a new multi-fight contract with ONE Championship.^[29]

In November 2021, Combat Press ranked him as the #5 welterweight kickboxer in the world.^[30]

As the first fight of his new six-fight contract, Holzken was scheduled to face the one-time ONE Lightweight Kickboxing title challenger Islam Murtazaev at ONE: X on March 26, 2022.^[31][32] With the removal of all Russian athletes from the event as a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Murtazaev was replaced by Sinsamut Klinmee and the fight was changed to Muay Thai rules.^[33][34] He lost the fight by a second-round knockout.^[35]

Holzken was scheduled to face Islam Murtazaev at ONE 162 on October 21, 2022.^[36] However, Holzken withdrew with an injury on four days before the bout was supposed to take place.^[37]

Holzken faced Arian Sadiković at ONE Fight Night 11 on June 10, 2023.^[38] At the weigh-ins, Holzken weighed in at 176 pounds, 6 pounds over the lightweight limit. As a result, the bout proceeded as a catchweight and Holzken was fined 30% of his fight purse, which went to Sadiković.^[39] He lost the fight by unanimous decision.^[40]

Holzken faced Yoshihiro Akiyama in a special-rules bout at ONE 165 on January 28, 2024. The match, contested in MMA gloves, will be three rounds: the first round being boxing rules, the second round being Muay Thai rules, and the third round being MMA rules.^[41] Holzken won the fight by technical knockout in the first round.^[42][43] This win earned the $50,000 Performance of the Night awards.^[44]

Holzken's family and in-laws are "woonwagenbewoners", indigenous Dutch Travellers.^[45][46]

Holzken and his wife Nathellie have a son and a daughter.^[32]

• Bloody Elbow.com
  • 2013 Fight of the Year vs. Joseph Valtellini on December 21^[47]
• Glory
  • 2013 Glory Welterweight (-77 kg/169.8 lb) World Championship Tournament Champion
  • 2015 Glory Welterweight (-77 kg/169.8 lb) Contender Tournament Winner
  • Glory Welterweight (-77 kg/169.8 lb) Championship (one time; three defenses; Former)
• WFCA
  • 2011 WFCA K-1 Rules Super Middleweight World champion
• SIMTA
  • 2007 SIMTA 72 kg European champion
• K-1
  • 2007 K-1 MAX North European Qualification champion
• Liver Kick.com
  • 2013 Fight of the Year vs. Joseph Valtellini on December 21^[48]
• SIMTA
  • 2005 SIMTA Light Middleweight European champion.

• List of male kickboxers
• List of K-1 champions

• ONE Championship profile
• Glory profile
• Boxing record for Nieky Holzken from BoxRec (registration required)