Renown kickboxing and Muay Thai fighter Tiffany van Soest made history recently by becoming the first-ever female champion in the Glory kickboxing promotion.
Van Soest fought twice on December 10 in the Women’s Super-Bantamweight Grand Prix to claim the title. Van Soest first met Jessica Gladstone in the semifinal, taking a unanimous decision win and then picked up another unanimous decision win over Amel Dehby in the tournament final to become the division’s champion.
While van Soest has picked up championship titles in Muay Thai and kickboxing, her professional mixed martial arts debut earlier this year did not go as planned. “Time Bomb” stepped into her first professional MMA fight against Kalyn Schwartz at Invicta FC 19 and ended up being submitted in the second round after getting caught in a rear-naked choke. However, with plans to still compete in MMA even after picking up the Glory kickboxing title, van Soest says that she still needs to prove herself in the world of mixed martial arts.
“Yeah, I definitely plan on getting back in the cage,” van Soest told BJPenn.com Radio host Kinch on Wednesday’s episode. “I can’t stand losing so I feel like I need to redeem myself and not only redeem myself but also establish myself as an MMA fighter as well.”
“Time Bomb” mentioned her successful career as a Muay Thai fighter and a kickboxer but said, “Now it’s time to establish myself as an MMA fighter.”
With her world champion striking skills, many fans dream of a matchup against UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk as many can only imagine the great standup war the two would put on.
“I think it would be really, really, fun, “Time Bomb” said of a fight against Jedrzejczyk. “It would be a really fun fight and everyone would get to see why I really am the best striker in the world. She’s good, but I think I’m better. I know I’m better.”
How do you think an MMA fight between the Glory women’s super-bantamweight and UFC women’s bantamweight champion would go down? Give us your thoughts in the comment section on the dream matchup between Tiffany Van Soest and Joanna Joanna Jedrzejczyk!