Gzim Selmani wanted all the smoke after he parted ways with the WWE, and that included a kickboxing match in GLORY with legend and former heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.
The former WWE tag team champion with the Authors of Pain returned to the non-scripted combat sports world by signing with BKFC. “The Albanian Psycho” stopped Dan Curtin in Round 2 after knocking him down several times in his promotional debut at BKFC Newcastle in March. While the performance was newsworthy, Selmani then cut
a wild promo that most television stations would censor for the entirety of it after being asked if he was happy with his performance that went viral.
When asked where it all came from, Selmani said that he wanted to fight Verhoeven while the former champ was still with GLORY, but it didn’t happen because he felt the promotion didn’t want to lose the alure that made Verhoeven who he is.
“Yeah, it was a frustration of the whole fight game, to be honest,” Selmani told MMA Fighting. “After WWE, I was looking to get back in the fight game and I reached out to old contacts. For example, just someone like, an older contact of mine, Robbie Timmers of Glory, and, I told him, ‘Hey, I see you guys want to do business in the United States. I’m here, if you need someone, for example, against Rico Verhoeven.’
“The way they protect these guys, it’s the whole fight game, to be honest. When I got back from WWE, it seemed like a huge circus to me. You see a guy like Rico Verhoeven fighting someone like Usyk, you think like what the f*ck is going on here? And they were protecting him. They didn’t let me fight him. They were scared of him getting knocked out, and it pissed me off to see what the fight game had become.
“When I was fighting MMA in, 2012, 2013, 2014, we didn’t care who the opponent was.We didn’t care about the money. We just wanted to fight, and that had gone away a little bit. You see all these clowns fight on big cards just because they stream a little bit here and there and stuff like that. So yeah, that pissed me off and I went to the baddest place to go, where the real men fight with no gloves. The hardest place, and I went there and I wanted to show everyone that I don’t care who it is. I don’t care if it’s with gloves, without gloves, I’ll knock you out, and that’s exactly what I did. So I’m coming back to do it again.”
Selmani is set for his sophomore BKFC appearance later this month when he faces Brad Lee at BKFC 95 in Newark. The 32-year-old competed in six pro MMA bouts — going 4-2 with all fights taking place while was 20 years old or younger.
A fight with Verhoeven would’ve been interesting in Selmani’s eyes, but ultimately it led him down the correct path to BKFC.
“Everybody here in Holland, in the Netherlands, we all used to train with each other, we sparred with each other and stuff like that, so I know how he is,” Selmani explained. “And I know he’s not a tough guy, and just because he had won some fights doesn’t mean you’re a tough guy either. So I just got pissed off by everything and just seeing everything, itt just pissed me off, and that’s where the frustration came from in the post-fight interview.
“I just wanted to let everybody know I don’t give a f*ck, I’m here to knock people out. I don’t need to be on your cards. I will come fight the best ones anywhere in the world, and right now I just chose bare knuckle because it’s without gloves. I wanted to knock people out without any gloves on.”
Another combat sports veteran entered Selmani’s crosshairs in former BKFC champ Ben Rothwell. When the promotion revealed that Selmani would be competing at BKFC 95, Rothwell commented on the social media post that Selmani turned down a fight offer against him on the card.
Selmani got a kick out of Rothwell’s claims before sending a warning in his direction.
“F*cking bullshit, man,” Selmani said. “He saw, obviousl,y that I’m from WWE and I signed with BKFC. All the heavyweights asked BKFC about me so it’s normal. They want to get some shine and fight the guy from WWE. If a big name comes into the company, they all want a piece of it. They want to be a part of it. But yeah, BKFC never offered [me] Ben Rothwell. Was bunch of bullshit and he, maybe, might have asked BKFC and maybe they told him it’s not going to happen of whatever.
“I don’t know, but I asked my management and they said an offer has never been made to fight Ben Rothwell. But if he keeps it up, I’ll knock him out too. I don’t give a fuck.”
