Exclusive Q&A: Rico Verhoeven ready and excited to face Artem Vakhitov at Glory 100

It's a new challenge for the King of Kickboxing, who spoke to DAZN News less than three weeks before his next fight.

DAZN News: You're in the spotlight at Glory 100, what does that mean to you?

Rico Verhoeven: I've been with Glory for such a long time. I've been there since Glory 4, and now it's Glory 100. We've been here for a while, and I think it's a special moment. It’s something that we've been working for for such a long time. We've been the best for a long time, and we're still the best. I'm really proud of that accomplishment. Now it's Glory 100, and we're going to do the same thing.

DN: What do you think of your opponent, Artem?

RV: My opponent is a really good fighter. He's smart, he's tactical, he's fast, he's explosive, he's all-around. So yeah, he's an amazing challenger.

DN: Any prediction?

RV: Any prediction? No. Predictions are not really my thing. I think it's going to be a really good fight and it's going to be an exciting fight because it's going to be high-paced, because that's what he brings to every fight. And normally I do the same thing in the heavyweight game, but now it's different because he's the lighter fighter. So, yeah, he's going to try and push the pace, but I'm ready. I’m excited for it.

DN: You’re the man to beat and at the end you always win. You've faced legends and won every time. What's the secret to your success?

RV: I don't really believe there's a secret to my success. For me, there's just one thing, and that's to be the best version of me every time. I'm not so much looking at who I'm fighting, but I'm more looking at how I can improve myself from my last fight. Every fight I do, I look back at, I analyze. Of course, you see the things that are good, but you also see a lot of things that can be improved. That's what we try to focus on.

DN: Even after years of being on top, you’re the best. How do you always keep the same determination?

RV: The motivation and the determination is just, like I said, for me, it's just being the best version of me every day. Every day, I try to be a better version of who I was yesterday and just think about how I can improve. So not really trying to look at my opponents or see if they motivate me or what they expect from me or what the fans expect from me. No, I put the expectations on myself really high. That’s where my focus lies.

DN: What was your toughest fight?

RV: I think my toughest fight was with Semmy Schilt. This man is a mountain of a man. He’s strong, he's technical. Especially at that moment of my career, it was a lot.

DN: You have one fight in MMA. When you see Poatan's and Israel Adesanya's careers in the UFC, have you ever thought about getting into MMA?

RV: I definitely thought about getting into MMA, but for me, it's always looking... I had the ups and the downs and the reason to believe, so why should I transition to a different sport? And I truly believe that if you want to transition into something, your ambition should be to be the very best. I never had the ambition to be the very best MMA fighter. Like I said, if that's not the case, if that's not the ambition, why should I transition? It doesn't make any sense.

DN: You're 36, you've already prepared for what comes after with your acting career. How do you feel? How many years do you have left?

RV: I don't really have a number in my head like, "Oh, I'm going to fight for another five years or three years or two years." It's just like I really try to stay close to connecting with my team, and they help me with the reflection of myself, looking at how we're feeling, how we're doing. And as long as that is straightforward and everybody's like, "Hey, I think we still got it," we still got it, and we're going to continue. But as soon as the moment comes that there's a gap or a possibility that we feel like, "I'm not sure if we still got it," maybe that's the moment we should throw in the towel.

DN: Everyone's unanimous about you. When you see what Jason Statham or Tom Aspinall think of you, how does it feel?

RV: Of course, it's amazing. Those are all people I also look up to for what they have accomplished in their career. It's amazing that they have all these kind words to say about me. So it's a mutual type of respect.