Rob Kaman

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Rob "The Dutchman" Kaman (born 5 June 1960) is a Dutch retired 9-time kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion. He is often called "Mr. Low Kick" because of his feared low kicks which he used to set up his devastating offensive attacks.^[1]

Biography[]

Young age[]

Rob Kaman was born in Amsterdam in 1960. In his early days, he played football for the AFC Ajax Youth Team. Kaman was a good player, but never liked team sports. At the age of 16, he became interested in martial arts and started training in pentjak silat. After he watched a fight of kickboxer Lucien Carbin, he started training in Muay Thai and kickboxing at Mejiro Gym under Carbin and later Jan Plas when he was 19.

In 1980 Kaman became an A-class fighter in the Netherlands. He won most of his fights by K.O. The turning point for him was his fight with Blinky Rodriquez, the cousin of Benny Urquidez. Kaman knocked him out in the 2nd round with a low kick to the leg. That was his international breakthrough.^{[citation needed]} From then on, Kaman started fighting in Thailand.

His first fight in Thailand was against Dennoi, a local champion. Kaman won by K.O. and was asked to fight Lakchart, a Thai champion, in Bangkok.

Winning world title[]

On 23 September 1983 he fought John Moncayo for the world title WKA of kickboxing. Kaman knocked him out in the 3rd round with a low kick and became the first European WKA world champion in kickboxing.

On 12 January 1984 he fought Payap Premchai, the champion of Thailand, in the Jaap Edenhal in Amsterdam and was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

In April 1984 he had a rematch with John Moncayo in Miami, Florida. This time he knocked Moncayo out with a punch in the 3rd round. At the end of that year he beat the great Thai fighter Samart Prasanmirt in Hong Kong as well as Jean Marc Tonus for the European title of full contact.

During the year 1985, he beat Larry McFadden in the 3rd round by a knockout and three months later he took his revenge on Lakchart. He knocked Lakchart out in the 4th round.

After that, Kaman fought many different fighters in Amsterdam: Ernest Simmons (WKA rules), Ernesto Hoost (WKA rules), Payap (rematch on Muay Thai rules), Roger Hurd (WKA rules) and Sittisak (Muay Thai rules). He won them all and at the end of 1987 the Japanese asked him to come fight in Japan.

His first fight in Japan was against Lakchart. Kaman knocked Lakchart out in the 1st round. From then on he fought many times in Japan. He fought against Kirkwood Walker, Hansu Premchai, Santiago Garza, and Don Nakaya Nielsen.

On 9 April 1989 Kaman fought in the Netherlands again against Jan Wessels from Arnhem. Kaman also organized that event and did not have the time to prepare properly for the fight. He lost the fight and many people thought that his career was over.^{[citation needed]} At the end of the year, he came back and beat Wessels by knock out in the 2nd round for a WKA world title.

In 1989 Kaman played in the movie Bloodfist with Don Wilson and Billy Blanks and fought three times against Changpuek Kiatsongrit from Thailand and Eddy Matthieu from France. During the summer he had a fight in Japan against Peter Smit. Smit was a newcomer and a WKA European champion. Kaman became a father with the birth of his son Gaby just before the fight. Rob lost his world title.

Kaman came back again. He fought against the Japanese fighter Yoshinori Nishi in Japan and won by 1st round knock out. The promoters in the Netherlands matched him a super fight with the new upcoming fighter Ernesto Hoost. Before the fight Hoost was the favorite but Kaman managed to knock him out in the 5th round.

On 29 June 1991, Kaman fought against Luc Verheye in France for the world WKA title. Luc Verheye had beaten Peter Smit and was the new world champion. Kaman beat Luc Verheye and took the title back.

He fought in France against fighters such as Rick Roufus, Mark Russell, Justin Ward, and Zito Polyo. One of Kaman's best fights was against Marek Piotrowski, whom he beat by K.O. in the 7th round.

On 25 January 1992, Kaman challenged his first professional MMA bout in RINGS against Nobuaki Kakuda. He won by TKO with a knee shot to grounded opponent in 3rd round.

On 20 June, Rob fought "the fight of the fights" against Jean-Yves Thériault. Rob won the fight by TKO and became the new ISKA world champion. He was at the same time world champion in WKA kickboxing and world champion in Muay Thai.

On 26 November 1993 Rob fought against another great Dutch champion Rick V.D. Vathorst. Kaman knocked him out in the 2nd round.

After that he fought again in France, this time in Marseille, again against a newcomer from the Netherlands, Orlando Breinburg. He won by TKO in the 3rd round.

In 1995 he participated in the K-2 tournament in Paris, France. His first fight was against Lavelle Robinson and he won by KO. In his second fight, he fought the Australian Tosca Petridis and was the winner again. In the finals, after two fights that night, he went against Jerome Turcan from France. Rob was full of injuries from his previous fights. During round four, he was bleeding heavily but knocked Turcan out with two high kicks at the end of the round. After all his world titles, he also won the K-2 tournament in Paris, France.

After only a few fights in the later years, because of too many injuries and a new movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme (Legionnaire), Rob decided to end his career, back where it all started, in the Netherlands. On 24 October 1999, he fought for the last time, against Alexey Ignashov, a 21-year-old amateur world champion in kickboxing. Rob won the fight by points, but after the fight he said that his opponent was the real winner and gave his trophy to Ignashov.

Currently, he is training UFC light heavyweight Brandon Vera on kickboxing for MMA.^{[citation needed]} He also trains MMA fighter Jason Miller.

Acting career[]

Towards the end of his sports career, Kaman tried his hand at acting, playing in three movies with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Legionnaire, Maximum Risk and Double Team with Dennis Rodman and Mickey Rourke. In 1993, Nikko Toshogu Press produced 8 videotapes on Muay Thai training with him and one videotape with highlights and knock outs of his career.

Prison sentence[]

In 1982, Kaman was sentenced to 18 months in prison for robbing a bank in Eindhoven on 28 May of the same year. Police arrested Kaman and a 22-year-old accomplice in Best, only 29 minutes after the robbery. The two carried out the robbery armed and masked and looted 9000 Dutch guilders.

Titles[]

• 1995 K-2 France Grand Prix '95 Champion
• 1992-94 I.S.K.A. Oriental Rules Light Heavyweight World Champion
• 1992 I.S.K.A. Full Contact Super Middleweight World Champion
• 1992 W.K.A. Full Contact Super Light Heavyweight World Champion
• 1990 I.M.T.F.(currently I.M.F.) Muay Thai Light Heavyweight World Champion
• 1989-90 W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World Champion
• 1988-89 W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World Champion
• 1984 P.K.A. Full Contact European Champion
• 1983-87 W.K.A. Full Contact Middleweight World Champion
• I.K.B.F. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World Champion

Kickboxing record[]

Kickboxing Record

97 wins (77 (T)KOs, 28 Decisions), 12 Losses, 1 Draw, 2 No Contests
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time
1999-10-24	Win	Alexey Ignashov	It's Showtime - It's Showtime	Haarlem, Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
1996-12-08	Loss	Jean-Claude Leuyer	K-1 Hercules '96	Nagoya, Japan	TKO (shin injury)	5	0:43
1995-09-30	Win	Bunshima Roong	Kickboxing Mania III	Milan, Italy	KO (Elbow)
1995-06-24	No Contest	Tosca Petridis		Paris, France	No Contest
Fight was ruled a No Contest due to a cut suffered by Kaman caused by an accidental headbutt from Petridis.
1995-01-07	Win	Jerome Turcan	K-2 France Grand Prix '95 Final	Paris, France	Ext.R KO (High Kick)	4
Wins K-2 France Grand Prix '95.
1995-01-07	Win	Tosca Petridis	K-2 France Grand Prix '95 Semi Finals	Paris, France	Decision	3	3:00
1995-01-07	Win		K-2 France Grand Prix '95 Quarter Finals	Paris, France	KO (Low Kick)	1	2:35
1994-11-12	Win	Orlando Breienburg	Thriller in Marseille	Marseille, France	TKO	3
1994-06-25	Win	Jerome Turcan		Paris, France	KO (Low Kicks)
Retains I.S.K.A. Oriental Rules Light Heavyweight World title.
1994-02-05	Loss	Rick Roufus		Paris, France	KO (Left Hook)	2
Fight was for Roufus's I.S.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1993-12-29	Loss	Changpuek Kiatsongrit	K-2 Grand Prix '93 Quarter Finals	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00
1993-11-26	Win	Rick van der Vathorst	Thaiboxing gala, Houtrusthallen	The Hague, Netherlands	KO (Right hook + Left mid kick)	2
1993-06-05	Win	Matthias Weitz		Paris, France	KO
1992-12-11	Win	Adam Watt		Tokyo, Japan	KO (Left Hook)	2
1992-11-21	Win	Marek Piotrowski		Paris, France	TKO (Right Cross)	7
Wins vacant I.S.K.A. Oriental Rules Light Heavyweight World title.
1992-08-21	Draw	Masaaki Satake	Rings Event "Ishizue"	Tokyo, Japan	Decision Draw	5	3:00
1992-06-20	Win	Jean-Yves Thériault		Paris, France	TKO (Gave Up)	5	2:00
Wins Thériault's I.S.K.A. Full Contact Super Middleweight World title and retains W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title. Kaman would have to vacact the I.S.K.A. title later that day due to being over the weight.
1992-04-26	Loss			Bangkok, Thailand	Decision	5	3:00
1992-04-?	Win	Justin Ward		Paris, France	KO
1992-03-26	Win	Adam Watt	Kakutogi Symposium	Tokyo, Japan	KO
1992-02-09	Win			Paris, France	KO (Right Cross)	2
Wins W.K.A. Full Contact Super Light Heavyweight World title.
1992-01-07	Win			Paris, France	KO
1991-12-20	No Contest	Rick Roufus	Les Choc Des Geants	Paris, France	No Contest	12	2:00
Fight was for Roufus's I.S.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title. Roufus was initially declared the winner by decision but the match was later declared a no-contest after Kaman's corner protested that only 1 minute had been fought in the 4th Round - a round that could have been critical to Kaman as he had hurt his opponent.
1991-10-25	Win	Zijad Poljo	Thriller from Paris II	Paris, France	TKO (Corner stoppage/towel)	4
1991-06-29	Win		Thriller from Paris I	Paris, France	TKO (Doctor stoppage/eye injury)	5	1:36
Wins Verheye's W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1990-11-18	Win	Ernesto Hoost	The Battle of the Year	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (Left Hook)	5
1990-09-28	Win	Yoshinori Nishi	A.J.K.F Inspiring Wars "Heat-928"	Tokyo, Japan	KO (Right Hook)	1	1:51
1990-06-30	Loss	Peter Smit	A.J.K.F Inspiring Wars "Heat-630"	Tokyo, Japan	KO (Punches)	10
Loses W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1990-05-27	Win	Eddy Matthieu	Holland vs Thailand	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (Left Hook to the Body)	1
Wins Matthieu's I.S.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1990-04-24	Loss	Changpuek Kiatsongrit	Holland Goes to Thailand, Lumpinee Stadium	Bangkok, Thailand	Decision	5	3:00
Loses I.M.T.F. Light Heavyweight World title.
1990-03-31	Win	Dominique Siegler		Tokyo, Japan	KO (Left Hook)	1
1990-02-18	Win	Changpuek Kiatsongrit	Holland vs Thailand 1990	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (Left Hook)	5
Wins I.M.T.F. Light Heavyweight World title.
1989-12-31	Loss	Changpuek Kiatsongrit		Paris, France	Decision	5	3:00
1989-11-19	Win		Kaman vs Wessels, Jaap Edenhal	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (Right Cross)	2
Wins Wessel's W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1989-10-21	Exhibition	Samson Negro	A.J.K.F Clash Of The Century, Part 5	Tokyo, Japan	KO	3
1989-09-05	Win	Don Nakaya Nielsen	A.J.K.F Super Bout	Tokyo, Japan	KO (Right Hook)	3
1989-04-09	Loss			Netherlands	KO
Loses W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1988-11-25	Win	Sean O'Regan	A.J.K.F "Fighting The Great War 5"	Japan	KO (Left Hook)	2
1988-10-25	Win	Ghalib Carmichael	A.J.K.F "Fighting The Great War 4"	Tokyo, Japan	KO (Right Low Kick)	3
1988-07-16	Win		A.J.K.F "Fighting The Great War 3"	Japan	KO (Right Low Kick)	3
Retains W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1988-05-29	Win		A.J.K.F "Fighting The Great War 2"	Japan	KO (Right Cross)	1
1988-05-15	Draw	Rudi Koopmans		Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision Draw	7	2:00
1988-03-12	Win		A.J.K.F "Fighting The Great War"	Japan	KO (Low Kicks and punches)	4
Wins W.K.A. Full Contact Light Heavyweight World title.
1988-02-06	Loss			Paris, France	Decision	5	3:00
1987-11-15	Win		A.J.K.F "Super Fight 3"	Japan	KO (Body Straight)	1	0:30
1987	Win			Amsterdam, Netherlands
1987-02-01	Win	Ernesto Hoost	W.K.A. Kickboxing	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision (Unanimous)	5	2:00
1986-10-12	Win	Ernest Simmons	W.K.A. Kickboxing	Amsterdam, Netherlands	TKO (Corner Stoppage/Low Kicks)	5	2:00
1986	Win	Roger Hurd	W.K.A. Kickboxing	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (Right Low Kick)	1
1985-05-12	Win		Kickboxing in Jaap Edenhal	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO	4
1985-02-03	Win		W.K.A. Kickboxing	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (Right Low Kick)	3
Retains W.K.A. Full Contact Middleweight World title.
1984-12-30	Win			Hong Kong	KO	2
1984	Win	Jean Marc Tonus	P.K.A. Kickboxing	Geneva, Switzerland
Wins P.K.A. Full Contact Middleweight European title.
1984-03-29	Win		W.K.A. Kickboxing	Miami, Florida, USA	KO (Punch)	3
Retains W.K.A. Full Contact Middleweight World title.
1984-01-12	Win			Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision (Unanimous)	5	3:00
1983-09-23	Win		W.K.A. Kickboxing	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (Low Kick)	3
Wins Moncayo's W.K.A. Full Contact Middleweight World title.
1983	Loss			Bangkok, Thailand	Decision (Unanimous)
1983	Win	Dennoi		Thailand	KO
1982-10-23	Win	Tuncay Coban		Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO
Retains Dutch title.
1982-04-04	Win		W.K.A. Kickboxing, Holland vs USA	Netherlands	KO (Low Kick)	2
1982-01-23	Loss				Decision	5	3:00
1981-05-31	Win		W.K.A. Kickboxing, Holland vs Japan	Netherlands	KO (Punches)	2
1980-09-28	Win	Akira Saito		Netherlands	KO	1
1980-04-28	Win	Serge Metz		Rotterdam, Netherlands
1979-12-27	Win	Madourgh		Rotterdam, Netherlands
1978-10-?	Loss			Paris, France	Decision
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

MMA record[]

MMA Record

1 Win (1 (T)KOs), 0 Losses, 0 Draw
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time
1992-01-25	Win	Nobuaki Kakuda	Rings Battle Dimensions Tournament, Opening Round	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (Knee Drop)	3	2:03
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

See also[]

• List of male kickboxers

References[]