Nieky Holzken says he didn’t struggle to overcome Sinsamut Klinmee loss

At ONE Fight Night 11 on June 9, Nieky Holzken will make his return to the ONE stage, almost a year since his last competition.

Facing off against Arian Sadikovic at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, the Dutch striking legend aims to move one step closer to his goal of 100 career wins.

His target was setback by his last fight under the ONE banner at ONE X last year.

At the biggest event in the history of ONE Championship, Holzken was scheduled to face former kickboxing world championship challenger Islam Murtazaev, but he was replaced at late notice by Sinsamut Klinmee.

With the fight being changed to a Muay Thai contest, ‘The Natural’ says that he had trouble adapting to the different ruleset on such short notice, which led to his second-round loss.

On top of that, the smaller Muay Thai gloves had its fair share of problems, too.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Nieky Holzken revealed that the loss itself wasn’t the lingering outcome from the fight:

“I get over it very fast. I wanted to fight very quickly again. Then injuries came up. I had a broken finger after that fight from the small gloves. I know for myself that I hit very hard, and if I hit them on the skull, the small gloves, you really have to train for them."

Holzken hopes to put the previous chapter of his career behind him by gaining a much-needed win inside the ring this week.

ONE Fight Night 11 will be live and free to watch for North American fans with an Amazon Prime subscription.