Semmy Schilt is widely regarded to be one of the greatest kickboxers of all time.
In recent times, a former opponent of his and fellow legendary fighter, Ernesto Hoost, named the toughest opponent from his iconic career.
While Hoost may have named several MMA fighters in his combat sports Mount Rushmore, Schilt is an elite fighter who tested himself in both disciplines.
The towering Dutch striker competed in both the UFC and Pride alongside his kickboxing career.
With some legendary opponents to pick from, ‘Hightower’ recently named which fighter was the hardest hitter that he came up against.
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Semmy Schilt names Alexey Ignashov as the hardest hitter he faced in his career
In his MMA career alone, having fought the likes of Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett, Semmy Schilt collided with some heavy hitters.
When you extend this question to his record-holding kickboxing career, where he remains the only fighter to have won five major heavyweight tournaments, there are some devastating KO artists to pick from.
Alexey Ignashov might not be an opponent that immediately springs to mind but when you look at some of the iconic fighters that he was able to beat and finish, it makes sense why he would be Schilt’s pick.
‘The Red Scorpion’ was particularly feared for his knee strikes, which Schilt happened to be on the wrong end of when they first collided in 2004 in which the Dutchman was finished in the first round.
“Hardest hitter. Look, Alexey Ignashov, he knocked me out one time,” Schilt told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive interview. “So maybe that’s the hardest hitter but I think in training is where I got the most hits… Sometimes, you think it’s hard, it’s not hard. You think it’s hard and you have to get used to this.
“So, if someone like Ray Sefo gives you a really hard right hand or he gives you a nice left, of course it’s hard. But, it’s human, so you have to get used to it. You have to get used to seeing the punch coming.”
Semmy Schilt recalls losing his memory after being knocked out by Alexey Ignashov
While Semmy Schilt would eventually go on to get his revenge over Alexey Ignashov by beating him in their 2009 rematch, he can still remember the aftermath of his knockout loss to ‘The Red Scorpion’.
He told Bloody Elbow about what the experience was like and how that knee took away his memory of the fight.
Schilt only ever suffered one other knockout loss in kickboxing, which came courtesy of Badr Hari in 2009.
“I know with Ignashov, I was standing up, I did not go down in the fight but I stood up and in the dressing room, I still did not know what was happening. My trainer wanted to take off my gloves and I said to him, ‘Hey, why are you taking off my gloves?’. He said, ‘Hey, it’s finished man.’ I said, ‘What is finished?’. Then, five minutes later, I asked the same question… That five minutes is lost, you lost it.”
Schilt is now set to join forces with the likes of Ernesto Hoost when helping to put together SENSHI’s first heavyweight Grand Prix on September 13.