Ernesto Hoost: The Original Stylebender
One of the hardest things there is in the fighting world, is to transition from a one art to another. Lots of fighters had a whole career in one style, before trying their hand at another, and faced difficulties in trying to adapt to a new set of rules.
UFC Middleweight champion Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya prides himself to be a fighter with multiple talents: An elite kickboxer, who also ventured to pro boxing, he transitioned to MMA where he quickly rose to prominence, winning the UFC gold less than two years after he joined the promotion.
Three decades before ‘Izzy’ was able to achieve such greatness, there was a fighter with such a diverse skill set that he managed to win three European titles in three different combat sports in the span of four months. Outstanding, right? A fighting machine, with one of the most stellar careers ever in whole of martial arts, Ernesto Hoost is a living legend. That man has a more than fair argument at being the greatest Kickboxer of all time.
Origin Story: Blending The Styles
Ernesto ‘Mister Perfect’ Hoost is a monument in the sport of Kickboxing. A four-time K-1 World Grand Prix champion (most wins alongside Semmy Schilt) Hoost beat absolutely everybody there was (haters will mention that he never avenged his 2 losses to Bob Sapp, but real ones know those fights never happened). Ernesto managed to stay on top of the sport for almost three decades, and was without a doubt, the most successful fighter of the ‘Golden Era of Kickboxing’, an era so deep with talent that you had to be very special to emerge at the top of the food chain.
This is something Ernesto clearly did, but you also had to bring something different, which he was able to do, thanks to the very diverse training he received.
Importance of Johan Vos
Hoost, Johan Vos, and Gerard Gordeau during the first K-1 World GP in 1993
Ernesto established himself as one of the best fighters of the ‘80s and the early ‘90s. Fighting out of Vos Gym since 1988 (he started kickboxing in the Sokudo Gym) he was trained by legendary Dutchman Johan Vos. Vos, alongside the likes of Jan Plas and Thom Harinck, is extremely important to Dutch kickboxing and its years of dominance.
A former Kyokushin fighter, Vos became a Karate teacher at the world famous Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam while himself training kickboxing with his close friend—and Mejiro founder—Jan Plas.
Then Vos started his own gym, immediately separating himself from the other trainers by using innovative training methods. Also a student of French fighting art Savate, Vos trained his fighters in multiple combat styles in order for them to be the most complete fighters they could possibly be, all the while being very hard to read as stylists. The method proved extremely efficient, as Vos gym quickly saw emerge surging talents such as Lucien Carbin (originally from Mejiro Gym), Lucia Rijker, Ivan Hippolyte, Mousid Akhamrane and of course, Ernesto Hoost.
Fully converted to the Vos system, Hoost began to compete in various martial arts, in order to be the best everywhere. And it was in 1988 that he was able too achieve a fantastic feat : winning European titles in three different styles : Muaythai, Kickboxing and Full-Contact, in four months. A year later he was able to do even better, winning three world titles, roughly in the same time span. ’Mister Perfect’ beat French Francis Dauvin for the Savate World title in Paris, the. Legendary Croatian Branko Cikatic for a Muay Thai World title two months later (Cikatic was DQd) and then the WKA kickboxing belt by knocking out Ernest Simmons a little bit than 2 months later.
Hoost faced the best fighters available, either in their own styles or in kickboxing, like Jean Yves Thériault, Rick Roufus, Pascal Ducros, Manson Gibson, and of course the top of kickboxing talent around.
Competing in all these bouts in much different styles, facing such a diverse opposition, helped Hoost sharpen a style of his own, making him a deadly fighter, sometimes awkward, sometimes very conventional, comfortable in all areas a fight could take place. Given the murderers row he was facing during the golden era of Kickboxing, possessing such a diverse skill set was very helpful, and made him a nightmare match up for any fighter.
Ernesto Hoost dropping Sylvain Postel, in a Savate bout
Hoost had two fantastic wars with Canadian full contact specialist and legendary KO artist Jean-Yves ‘The Iceman’ Theriault. He lost both fights but was able to showcase the level of discipline required to be able to hang with the elite of the different sports.
Fast Combos & Furious Kicks
During his prime, as a K-1 fighter, Ernesto was feared for his deadly combinations and lethal kicks, especially the low kicks, which as everyone knows, are the Dutch kickboxing’s darling.
Hoost was a master at combination punching and kicking, linking the two weapons with perfect timing, doing maximum damage to the opponent. His diverse training helped him to shape his blows differently than his eras counterparts, giving him a crucial edge.
Ernesto was throwing his shots differently, as for example the low kick, which he loved to throw like a question mark kick. Hoost was also a tremendous body puncher, often going to the liver with the left hook, and almost always following with the low kick
Ernesto using a very traditional boxing combo and ending it with a devastating high kick, knocking Changpuek Kiatsongrit out
Trademark body punch-to-low kick combo
Ernesto was very good at varying his combos. One with the uppercut, the next one with the hook to the body. And always the low kick for good measure.
That’s just plain mean.
Killer Shark: Hoost As An Expert Finisher
In this writers opinion, although he was a very technical fighter as just explained, Hoost’s most important attribute was his ability to finish a hurt opponent. When it came to end a fighter’s night, Hoost was simply an artist: He always knew exactly when to pull the trigger, and the way he put his foot on the gas to kill was mesmerizing. Although it seemed like he was going wild, the shot selection was sublime, efficient and pin point accurate. Again, with a skill set as deep as his, he was able to use the right attack at the right moment, from different angles he learned from his kickboxing training of course, but from Savate and Muay Thai as well. Hoost was like a shark tasting blood.
Sensing he had hurt the very durable Mike Bernardo, Hoost explodes in a furious punching combination, putting the South African slugger down.
Ernesto counters Jerome Le Banner’s low kick with a straight right hand, immediately sensing he had hurt him bad. He proceeds to unleash a furious attack, knocking the French ‘Cyborg’ out.
During an exchange in close quarters with future UFC heavyweight champion Maurice Smith, Hoost connects with a right hand. Closing the distance even more to get inside of Smith’s punching range, he forces Smith to clinch, just so that he can throw a left high kick on the exit. At this distance, Maurice never saw that kick coming: Hoost was thinking two steps ahead.
To cap off all this, Ernesto’s legendary KO of Rick Roufus—in Full Contact—a rule set Roufus was extremely good at, and the best in the world at that time.
Legacy
Did Ernesto Hoost inspired fighters like Israel Adesanya to seek knowledge from different martial arts in order to create their own style? Only they can answer, but I’m pretty sure he played at least a small part.
Ernesto was a real pioneer in transitioning from one style to another, especially doing it in such small time spans. Jumping from a Savate fight, to Muay Thai fight six weeks later is an insane schedule, so much in that the rule sets are so different. It shows how disciplined Hoost was, and highlights the fantastic training he received from his coach Johan Vos.
MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko famously came to Hoost in order to prepare for his bout with Mirko Cro Cop, a fighter Hoost bested twice. Former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk also trained under the great ‘Mr. Perfect’, and kickboxing standouts such as Tyrone Spong, Ashwin Balrak and Paul Slowinski were tutored by him as well.
‘Mr. Perfect’ is a legend of the fighting world, a master for every aspiring fighter to pay close attention to, but even more so an example to every coach on the planet that they should thoroughly study all different styles of combat, whether they’re kick boxers or MMA fighters.