Semmy Schilt

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Profile

Semmy "Hightower" Schilt (born October 27, 1973) is a Dutch professional mixed martial artist and three-time consecutive K-1 World Grand Prix champion.

He stands 6 ft. 11 in. (212 cm) tall and fights in the heavyweight (265 lbs.) and openweight divisions (265+ lbs.).

Schilt was the ninth openweight King of Pancrase and has fought for the UFC and the PRIDE Fighting Championships.

Pancrase

Semmy Schilt made his professional mixed martial arts debut on May 16, 1996 for the well reknowned, Japan based, Pancrase organization. He faced Manabu Yamada in his debut and after 5:44 of action submitted his smaller opponent with a rear naked choke.

Schilt suffered his first loss in his next bout as he was defeated via split decision by Japanese fan favorite, Yuki Kondo after ten minutes.

After going loss-win to close out 1996, Schilt met Lion's Den fighter, Guy Mezger at Pancrase: Alive 1 in January of 1997. He was defeated by Mezger via decision after 20 minutes.

Another loss followed to Japanese legend, Masakatsu Funaki via toe hold submission before Schilt got back in the win column with two successive victories over Kazuo Takahashi and Takaku Fuke.

In April of 1997, Schilt faced Yuki Kondo for the second time and was again defeated, this time via unanimous decision after 20 minutes.

1998 was a mixed year for Schilt as he started it out shakily with a win over Minoru Suzuki which was followed by defeats to Satoshi Hasegawa and Masakatsu Funaki. He closed out the year with four consecutive victories which include avenging knockout wins over Mezger and Funaki.

His successful run continued as he started 1999 with a submission victory over Takafumi Ito.

The five fight win streak earned Schilt a shot at the vacant Openweight King of Pancrase title. He met Yuki Kondo for the third time in his career and was defeated by decision after 20 minutes to halt his winning run.

Schilt headed back to his native Holland for a bout in Rings after the loss and was knocked out for the first time in his career by wild Dutchman, Gilbert Yvel.

"Hightower" returned to Pancrase in July and started a run of three straight victories that led him to another shot at the Openweight title. He defeated Osami Shibuya, Katsuomi Inagaki and Ikuhisa Minowa before facing Kondo for the fourth time in November, 1999.

Schilt broke the Kondo hoodoo as he submitted the Japanese fighter with a rear naked choke in 2:28 of round 1 to earn himself the title of the ninth Openweight King of Pancrase.

Schilt closed out his Pancrase run with two defenses of his openweight title in TKO wins over Kazuo Takahashi and Osami Shibuya. Those two wins were split up by two other victories Schilt picked up in differing promotions in Holland.

UFC and PRIDE

An draw with Aleksei Medvedev in Holland kicked off Schilt's 2001 but shortly after that Schilt was picked up by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He made his UFC debut at UFC 31 against Lion's Den fighter and former UFC Heavyweight title contender, Pete Williams. Williams highlighted the weaknesses in Schilt's ground game early but was no match for Schilt's striking game as he was eventually rocked with a straight kick and pounded out midway through the second round.

Just under two months later, Schilt was back in UFC action as he met Josh Barnett at UFC 32. Barnett did what Williams could not and exploited Schilt's ground deficiencies en route to a first round armbar submission win.

Schilt left the UFC after the loss and headed back to Japan, but instead of returning to Pancrase he opted for the PRIDE Fighting Championships. He made his PRIDE debut at PRIDE 16 in September of 2001 against Japanese middleweight, Akira Shoji. Shoji fought hard and got the fight to the floor early but once it returned to the feet he was no match as Schilt landed a huge knee and follow up punches that put him down and out.

Schilt closed out 2001 in PRIDE with knockout victories over Japanese fighters, Masaaki Satake (PRIDE 17) and Yoshihiro Takayama (PRIDE 18).

To begin 2002, Schilt made his K-1 kickboxing debut, defeating Japanese favorite, Mushashi via split decision.

He returned to MMA action at PRIDE 21 in June though where he faced PRIDE debutant, Fedor Emelianenko. Schilt was controlled by Fedor on the ground for three rounds in a lacklustre bout that resulted in Schilt dropping a unanimous decision.

Two months later, Schilt fought K-1 legend, Ernesto Hoost to a draw in a K-1 bout at PRIDE: Shockwave 2002.

Schilt met PRIDE heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a non-title bout at PRIDE 23 in November. Schilt was no match for the BJJ prowess of Nogueira and was submitted with a beautiful triangle choke in 6:36 of round 1.

Schilt took most of 2003 off with only one K-1 bout (a win over Remy Bonjavsky) and one MMA bout. The MMA bout came at New Year's Eve's Inoki-Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 where he met Josh Barnett in a rematch. Schilt fought hard and forced the fight into a third round but was ultimately submitted via armbar again.

In early 2004, Schilt was announced as one of 16 heavyweight competitors in PRIDE's 2004 Open Weight Grand Prix. He met former UFC heavyweight title contender, Gan McGee in the opening round at PRIDE: Total Elimination 2004. Just over five minutes in, Schilt found himself in mount where he executed a sloppy armbar that forced McGee to submit.

In his last bout for PRIDE, Schilt faced Sergei Kharitonov in the quarter finals at PRIDE: Critical Countdown 2004. Kharitonov dominated Schilt on the floor and with a little under two minutes left in the first round he had Schilt's arms isolated allowing him to land heavy shots to Schilt's head. "Hightower" could not escape and copped a vicious beating that the referee eventually halted at 9:19 of round 1.

K-1

After the Kharitonov loss, Schilt chose to focus his energy on to his succesful K-1 career.

So much was the success of his K-1 career that he became the first person in history to win three consecutive K-1 World Grand Prixs (2005, 2006, 2007).

He still found time to occasionally fight in MMA as he disposed of Min Soo Kim via triangle choke submission at K-1: Hero's 6 in August of 2006.

In 2008, Schilt fought two MMA bouts, the first coming in January as he knocked out Nandor Guelmino in the first round.

He met fellow K-1 kickboxer, Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga at K-1: Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008. Might Mo scored a takedown on Schilt and was landing some decent ground and pound before Schilt wrapped him up in a triangle choke that forced him to submit 5:31 of round 1.