More people want to watch, but especially for the women：Tiffany van Soest Interview

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　This image courtesy of Tiffany van Soest

In this issue of ZOOM, I interviewed Tiffany Van Soest (USA/Tiffany Van Soest), who will face Manazo Kobayashi (NEXT LEVEL Shibuya) at “Glory 80” to be held on March 19, 2022 (March 20, Japan time).

Tiffany is the current GLORY Women’s Super Bantamweight Champion. After winning the Glory world title in 2016,she successfully defending it once before losing it to Anissa Meksen. She beat Sofia Olofsan to get back into contention to fight for the title again. She lost a split decision to Meksen in France. She then dominated Jady Menezes to earn another shot at the title. Then She finally beat Meksen and regained the title. She then defended in against Aline Pereira. Tiffany sais, “now I will defend it again against Kobayashi”.

Tiffany has experienced several defeats in her career. Each time, she looks back on it as a positive experience that allowed her to grow as a person. For example, in reference to her match against Meeksen, she asked, “Wasn’t it shocking to lose twice?” When I asked her, she replied, “The match was close. It wasn’t one-sided or a knockout. It was a very good match. She added, “I didn’t feel pressured to play again or for the third time. It was a close match, so I thought I could handle it just by changing myself a little bit. I didn’t think I needed to change everything.” I didn’t think I needed to change everything,” she said.

Her fight with Caley Reece was in 2015. It was a Muay Thai match at Lion Fight promotions before she began kickboxing with GLORY. She said, “She was very strong in clinching. That’s why I practiced clinching more after the loss.” She said that she used the loss as a springboard for her growth.

To be a professional fighter, it wasn’t my plan.

She started playing soccer at the age of five, and then began learning karate. One of her childhood favorites has been “Ninja Turtles”. She wanted to do something more full-contact after she had already been doing karate for a long time. She began to learn Muay Thai when she was 16 years old. Then she had my first Muay Thai fight when she was 18 years old.

However, even here she still did not expect to enter the professional world. When she entered college, she thought she would become a fitness trainer or a sports trainer. While in college, she would train in Muay Thai and compete as an amateur. In the process, she was given the opportunity to turn professional fighter, so she did.

Incidentally, she continued to be a trainer even after she turned professional fighter. It was not until she became a player in “Glory” that she was able to live on fight money alone.

Her fighting style is somewhat similar.

When I asked her about her impression of Kobayashi, her opponent in Glory 80, she said, “She is a very strong opponent. She is a champion and has defended her title. She is strong and has good technique. She moves quickly.” She said, “She is a very strong opponent.”

She also said, “Our fighting styles are somewhat similar. Of course, we do not have the same combination. However, she thinks that we are similar in the way they move quickly and play with their opponents.

She said that she watched the most recent fights (against Hinata Terayama and Suzuka Tabuchi) after the match-up was decided. She said that she has not watched many other matches, and the reason for this is that “people change; they change a lot even a year ago. So the best way to get to know my opponent is to watch the most recent matches.” She said.

Her most memorable matches are also the most recent. It was against Aline Pereira (Brazil). She was very strong. She has a very strong left hook. And fast.” She said of his impression of the match.

More people want to watch, but especially for the women

As for Tiffany’s future, she says her goal is ” My goal is to remain Champion but also to make more opportunities for other women and to help promote the sport of kickboxing. So that it’s bigger around the world and more people want to watch, but especially for the women.” As a champion, Tiffany hopes to spread kickboxing around the world.

She was still working as a trainer and Muay Thai instructor even after being the GLORY champion. She has always had to work another job to help with her income because the money She earn from fighting is not enough on its own. She needs other sources of income. For example, now She also sell paintings that She make.

On the other hand, she is also interested in Japan, as she will be competing with Japanese players this time. She originally loved the Ninja Turtles, and having visited Tokyo two years ago, she would like to go back to Japan and compete there.

Regardless of the outcome of Glory 80, we would love to see Tiffany compete in Japan.