Jean Claude Van Damme could whip anybody. Throw in one caveat -- on the silver screen. Now the 49-year-old Belgian star of dozens of action films wants to show he can do it for real.
Repeating what he said in September, Van Damme is trying to land a professional kickboxing match against former Olympian Somluck Kamsing in Macau as the capper to a proposed reality show. During a press conference in Ukraine (VIDEO), Van Damme explained his motivation.
"[It's] dangerous but life is short," said Van Damme. "I want to prove to young people and even to mature people that a man can go into some very strong physical effort and training, and also be a movie star."
The fight was originally slated for a March K-1 event in Las Vegas. As Cagewriter told you at the time, the fight had zero chance of coming off in Nevada:
Kamsing, 35, was the 1996 Olympic Gold medalist in boxing at 126 pounds. He also fought in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, losing to Rocky Juarez and Benoit Gaudet, respectively ... we'll rain on the parade with a reality check, the Nevada State Athletic Commission would never approve a fight with the [49-year-old] Jean Claude facing a former Olympian.
We nailed it. Van Damme (pictured with UFC fighter Michael Bisping) got word that the fight could not go down in the U.S. as many states have strict guidelines for fighters over 35.
Randy Couture, 46, will fight 45-year-old Mark Coleman next week in Las Vegas in the main event of UFC 109. Along with 37-year-old Frank Trigg and 35-year-old Matt Serra, Couture and Coleman had to go in front of the NSAC to undergo neurological testing and gain approval to fight. Vam Damme has zero professional fights. The four UFC fighters have a combined 93 pro fights and were still scrutinized before they were given their licenses. The only "real" fight we know of for Van Damme was a rumored scrap against fellow action star Chuck Zito.
For Van Damme, fighting a former Olympian is a brave thing to attempt, but let's hope it's closer to a reality show fight than one where he may get injured badly.
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