Although MMA has not always been a popular sport within Holland, it is starting to catch up with kickboxing in terms of popularity.

In the beginning
In the Netherlands, MMA was an underdog among martial arts for a long time, especially in the beginning. The underground character and public opinion meant that the sport was seen as barbaric, especially in a country like the Netherlands. Pioneers such as Chris Dolman, Dick Vrij, Bas Rutten and 'Dirty' Bob Schrijber therefore remained underexposed in martial arts-loving Netherlands for a long time.

Dick Vrij is a legend in Dutch MMA

However, sentiment changed in the mid to late nineties. The aforementioned Bob Schrijber and young up-and-coming fighters such as Gilbert Yvel increased in popularity. Events were organized (RINGS), among other things, and more and more fighters opted for MMA, mainly called Free Fight at that time in the Netherlands. Still, there was a taste for the choice of 'cage'; This was therefore banned from 1996 (however, cage fighting has resumed in the Netherlands since 2008). In the meantime, the general public also became familiar with the term Free Fight and interest grew slowly but steadily.

...however, kickboxing remains number one.
MMA in the Netherlands was unlucky that it was emerging in the glory days of K-1 kickboxing. Since we (martial arts wise) were (and are) mainly a kickboxing-loving country, the rise of MMA was somewhat overshadowed by the achievements of kickboxing legends such as Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky and Semmy Schilt. It was at this time that MMA was booming in the US and Japan. Despite this, the growth in well-known MMA fighters continued to increase. What to think of Alistair Overeem , who was able to compete with the best in PRIDE at the time; Chuck Liddell, among others, had a very hard time with this budding star. But fighters such as Milco Voorn, Joop Kasteel, Melvin Manhoef, Gilbert Yvel and many others also made their way and grew as MMA fighters.