Publisher Avatar Renzo Gracie posted

WORLD COMBAT CHAMPIONSHIP (1995) - Part 2


When the referee intervened and separated the fighters, Renzo still remained for a few moments pressing Spijkers' neck, and when he released him, he hit his body with a few shoves with his feet. Then, when he got up, he walked away stepping on his opponent's neck. 
 
This action, which generated great controversy after the fight and earned him a warning from the referee, was not intended to harm the physical integrity of the judoka. It was, rather, a purely symbolic act, a response to Spijkers' immense disrespect, with his offensive statements and ridiculous prank calls perpetrated with maniacal insistence the night before. 
 
(Note that, a few seconds after the stomp in the neck, Renzo returned to Spijkers' fallen body and hugged him, apologizing for his attitude. That said, there remains a complementary information: the day after the confrontation, the Dutchman was arrested for assaulting a stewardess on the flight back to his country... “If I had known he was going to attack a woman, I wouldn’t have stepped on his neck, but kicked him in the head,” Renzo said when he learned of the incident.) 
 
In the end, the indomitable fury of that combat became legendary. The way was open towards the title of champion of one of the biggest international MMA tournaments of the period. Now it was time for the next grapplers fight, the only thing separating Renzo from the final showdown of the night against the winner of the strikers bracket.
 
 (to be continued)