The now infamous kickboxer Murthel Groenhart is fearing for his own life.
Last weekend his fight against Harut Grigorian ended in controversial fashion, to say the least. Grigorian quit the fight and lowered his guard, then Groenhart knocked him out cold. Then, fans stormed the ring and viciously attacked the Dutch kickboxer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMEBP9gTipk
According to TMZ, Groenhart is now receiving legitimate death threats through social media from Grigorian’s fans.
“I get a lot of hate from fans you know on social media that it was a cheap shot and they’re going to kill me,” revealed Groenhart.
The Dutch kickboxer says that there is no way his fighter instinct would have told him otherwise – he saw an opportunity and used it.
“The first thing the ref tells you is to protect yourself at all times, the moment the bell rings you have to protect yourself. There are two opponents who are fighting for the number one spot in the world – I trained a long time for this, the opportunity to become a champion, so I take this seriously. So if you’re with me in the ring and there is a moment that you turned around or one moment that you do something crazy, and I can’t take that moment, why not take it?”
The interesting bit is that Grigorian has actually commented that he would have done the same exact thing.
“He told me in these exact words, ‘no problem, don’t worry about the guy that chased you, if it was me, I would do exactly the same thing'” summarised Groenhart.