Kickboxing career
In 2003, his first year as a professional, Spong won 12 fights. In 2004, he fought Rafi Zouheir at the Battle of Zaandam, winning his first European Muay Thai Title (World Kickboxing Network). In 2004, Spong visited Japan to compete in Shootboxing, losing to Ryuji Goto via unanimous decision. His next fight, in April 2005, was against Belgian Mohammed Ouali for another European Title (WPKL). Spong won the fight by unanimous decision.
In December 2005, at the A-1 Combat Cup in Duisburg, Spong won his first tournament Championship after winning three consecutive fights by knockout.
In 2006, Spong had two significant victories, knockout wins over Muay Thai veteran Joerie Mes and, two weeks later, K-1 fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing, from Thailand.
In 2007, Spong won the SLAMM world title up to 79 kg by defeating the Thai Yodchai Wor Petchpun via first-round TKO. In the following match, he defeated the Belarusian Dmitry Shakuta.
On 26 January 2008 Spong won the World Full Contact Association (WFCA) World Thaiboxing Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Aurelien Duarte. Following this, he won the KO World Series 2008 by defeating Nikos Sokolis via knockout in the first round, and defended his WFCA Muay Thai title by finishing Ondrej Hutnik with a left liver punch in the second round. On 26 April 2008 Spong faced Azem Maksutaj at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam , winning by knockout in the second round. He then defeated Gary Turner via TKO in the first round. On 29 November 2008 he became the inaugural It's Showtime 95MAX World champion after beating Zabit Samedov by unanimous decision.
On 28 March 2009 Spong participated in the first K-1 Heavyweight (−100 kg) Title tournament, held in Yokohama, Japan. He was beaten in the semifinals by Gokhan Saki, who won by KO in the extra round. [3]
Spong met Nathan Corbett at Champions of Champions II on 27 June 2009, in what was widely considered a battle between the two best Muay Thai fighters in the world at their weight class, for the W.M.C. world title −93 kg. The fight was close, with Spong knocking Corbett down in the second round, and ended with a controversial decision. In the third round, Corbett knocked Spong out with a right hook causing the referee to stop the fight. However, due to the referee's misleading hand signals, Corbett rushed back in and knock Spong down once more, not sure that the fight had been stopped. After considerable confusion, the fight was declared a no contest.
After defeating the Worlds heavyweight champion, Kyotaro, on 5 December 2009, Spong fought Jerome Le Banner in April 2010. Similarly to the Corbett fight, Spong broke his right hand in the first round and was knocked down. Despite coming back strongly, he lost by decision. At the end of the year, he qualified for the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final, defeating veteran Ray Sefo in an elimination match, only to lose to eventual winner Alistair Overeem at the quarter final stage in what was a more competitive fight than most had predicted, as Overeem was much the bigger fighter. At the start of 2011, Spong had to vacate the It's Showtime 95MAX world title due to a number of issues, such as not having had a title defense in the allocated two years and his management stating that he had moved up in weight to fight as a heavyweight. [4]
Spong knocked out Igor Mihaljevic with a left knee in the first round at It's Showtime 2011 Lyon on 14 May 2011. He defeated Loren Javier Jorge by unanimous decision at It's Showtime Madrid 2011 on 18 June 2011.
Spong faced Melvin Manhoef at It's Showtime 2012 in Leeuwarden on 28 January 2012 and won by unanimous decision. He faced the legendary Dutchman Peter Aerts at an It's Showtime event in Brussels, Belgium, on 30 June 2012 and won by knockout in the third round.
Spong fought Remy Bonjasky at Glory 5: London in London, England, on 23 March 2013. [5] [6] [7] [8] Spong won via one-punch KO with a right hook in the second round. [9] [10] [11]
Spong returned to 95 kg to fight in the Glory 9: New York - 2013 95kg Slam in New York City, New York, United States on 22 June 2013. [12] [13] He had a scare in the quarter-finals when he was dropped by Michael Duut soon after the bout started, although it was not counted by the referee. Just moments after returning to his feet, Spong landed a crushing right hand on Duut, knocking Duut out and ensuring Spong's passage to the semifinals against Filip Verlinden. [14] The Verlinden match was a technical battle, with Spong outpointing the Belgian and taking a unanimous decision. A match with Danyo Ilunga awaited him in the final but it ended in a controversial and anticlimactic fashion. As the fight began, both fighters met in the center of the ring and Spong unloaded a flurry of punches. As Ilunga covered up and prepared to counter, referee Mufadel Elghazaoui jumped in and stopped the fight, giving Spong the TKO win at just sixteen seconds of the first round. [15] [16] [17] Although, it was later revealed that there was a "no standing eight count" rule in effect at the event as per the New York State Athletic Commission's regulations, the stoppage was still deemed premature by much of the kickboxing community. [18] [19]
In a long-awaited rematch, Spong fought Corbett again at Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States on 12 October 2013. Spong dropped Corbett twice with left hooks and won by second-round TKO . [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
Spong fought in the Glory 15: Istanbul - Light Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey on 12 April 2014, competing for the inaugural Glory Light Heavyweight Championship. After defeating Saulo Cavalari via unanimous decision in the semifinals, he then faced Gökhan Saki in a highly anticipated rematch in the final. Midway through the opening round, Spong threw a kick to Saki's left leg. Saki checked the kick, causing Spong's lower right leg to fracture immediately and end the fight via TKO. [25] [26] [27]
Spong underwent surgery to repair his broken leg and returned to training in October 2014. [28] On 14 April 2016 he announced that he had retired from kickboxing and was looking forward to new challenges.
