Nieky Holzken denies telling Eindhovens Dagblad that he knows GLORY wants him out of the company.
The Dutch newspaper stated in a recent interview with “The Natural” that Holzken said he was told by people from within GLORY that they want to get rid of him, but the Dutchman tells MMA Plus that it’s not exactly the case.
“I just said that it looks like GLORY wants to get rid of me because they put me on the seventh place in the rankings instead of number two or three, where I’m supposed to be,” the former champion says.
“There are guys who fought just one fight with GLORY, did nothing in GLORY and they are already two steps above me. It’s very awkward for me. It looks like they want to get rid of me, otherwise, they would keep me in the top three, where I’m supposed to be.
“The people from the media say to me: ‘What the f*ck is wrong with GLORY that they put you on number seven. What you did in GLORY, has done by nobody other than Rico (Verhoeven).’ I don’t understand it. I don’t care, I just try to knock my opponent out tomorrow and get back to the championship in 2018.”
GLORY CEO Jon J. Franklin also denies that GLORY wants to get rid of Nieky Holzken. “Just because we want new faces, doesn’t mean we want to get rid of the old ones. Holzken is one of the top fighters in GLORY, so there’s no reason to get rid of him,” Franklin told MMA Plus after the GLORY 49 and GLORY: Redemption weigh-ins.
Holzken, who expressed his frustrations about the rankings on more than one occasion through Twitter, fights Alim Nabiyev on the GLORY 49 SuperFight Series in his first non-title bout since February 2015. The Dutchman says it may be a good for him that all eyes are not on him this time.
“Everybody talks about it (me being on the SuperFight Series instead of the GLORY: Redemption pay-per-view) and thinks it’s awkward. Saturday they all watch television (in the Netherlands on) Ziggo Sport and they are waiting for me and I’m not coming.
“But maybe it’s good for me to step back a bit. Not so much pressure. For five years I always fought for world titles, I always was the number one spot and everybody accepted so much from you. So much pressure on your back.
“Now, I don’t have the pressure. Just pressure for myself. It’s everything or nothing now and I just want to win the fight and everything that’s coming on my path.”
