Muay Thai legend Dekkers dies at age 43

Muay Thai kickboxing legend Ramon (The Diamond) Dekkers died at the age of 43 in his native Netherlands Wednesday. Dutch newspaper BN DeStem was first to report the news. According to reports, Dekkers died after having a heart attack while riding a bicycle.

Dekkers was an eight-time Muay Thai world champion and regarded as one of the most influential strikers in the history of combat sports.

The Dutchman’s career spanned nearly two decades; Dekkers retired in 2006 with a record of 186-33-2, including 95 knockouts, and was the first non-Thai to be named Thai Boxer of the Year.

After retirement, Dekkers remained heavily involved in combat sports as a coach and trainer.

Below is a clip from a documentary about Dekkers produced by his long time camp and management team Golden Glory. You can see by watching Dekkers receive an award in Thailand just how much his career and the sport of Muay Thai meant to him.

And if you’re unfamiliar with his work, take a look at just how dominant Dekkers could be in this highlight video featuring some of the more memorable moments and knockouts from his fighting career:

Dekkers was not only a force in Muay Thai, he also had ties to mixed martial arts and many of today’s top UFC and MMA stars were influenced by Dekkers.

See below as the MMA community paid respects to Dekkers on Twitter.

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