Uncasville, CT — Kickboxing champ Denise Kielholtz will enter her first title fight in MMA this Friday in the main event of Bellator 262.
The 32-year old “Miss Dynamite” is a Bellator Kickboxing and Enfusion world champion. Now, she takes on the undefeated Juliana Velasquez with flyweight gold on the line.
“It’s a little bit more extra excitement, because I know this title is the crown of all those years of hard work,” the Dutch striker told Cageside Press this week. Kielholtz started with judo, jumped to kickboxing, where she became a world champion, then made the transition to MMA. “This Friday night is just the crown of all that hard work, all those years of hard work. So that’s a little bit more exciting, but that’s why I’m enjoying more [of] everything that’s happening now.”
Kielholtz knows that she still has a lot to learn. “That’s what makes this whole MMA game more exciting, because you never out-learn.” The Dutch fighter believes she has been growing more everything fight camp. “If everything that I’ve been working on, all the abilities that I work on, if that comes out this Friday, then I will be a fighter that everyone in this division can watch out [for]. Because I know that I am also a world champion in MMA.”
What has she done special for this camp against Velasquez? Maybe it’s just her overall prep, which never stops. “I’m always working, even if I don’t have to fight,” noted Kielholtz, who revealed that she was already working for this fight last year, after her last bout.
Watch the full Bellator 262 media day interview with Denise Kielholtz above. The event takes place Friday, July 16 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.
