Michael Passenier (born 9 April 1969) is a Dutch

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

trainer who owns Mike's Gym in

Oostzaan Oostzaan () is a municipality and a town in the Zaanstreek, Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The municipality had a population of in . Oostzaan has a total area of of which is water. Oostzaan—together with Westzaan and Assen ...

, Netherlands. He is also known by the nickname "Big Mike".

Biography

Passenier was born and raised in Amsterdam. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in his youth. At the age of 15, he attended a kickboxing event for the first time, and became impressed by the visitors and the atmosphere. While working in a bar, he met kickboxing world champion

Gilbert Ballantine Gilbert Ballantine (born 14 March 1961) is a retired Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer and a nine times kickboxing world champion. After his kickboxing career Ballantine also took part in Mixed martial arts competition, winning three Rings Dutch champio ...

. Passenier sparred with Ballantine, who appreciated Passenier's skills and invited him to work as an assistant coach. Passenier never entered the professional ring himself.

Mike's Gym

Passenier began teaching martial arts in 2002. A year later, he opened his own gym, named Mike's Gym. Passenier became more known in the world of kickboxing when he trained Joerie Mes, who was considered one of the best combination specialists in kickboxing. The silhouette of Mes was made part of the Mike's Gym logo. Mike's Gym became one of the biggest martial arts gyms in the Netherlands. Passenier's pupils are distinguished by their willingness to win by knockout during a bout. They do not use points-oriented tactics. Passenier trained many world champions, including Melvin Manhoef, Badr Hari, Murthel Groenhart and Sahak Parparyan. At certain stages of their careers, he coached top contenders such as Artur Kyshenko, Gökhan Saki, Alistair Overeem, Freddy Kemayo,

Björn Bregy Björn Heinrich Walter Bregy (born September 30, 1974) is a Swiss heavyweight kickboxer, European Yoseikan Budo Champion and K-1 Europe 2006 in Amsterdam tournament Champion. He holds notable wins over Gokhan Saki, Ray Sefo, Alexander Ustinov, F ...

Sergey Adamchuk Serhii Adamchuk (born February 7, 1990) is a Ukrainian kickboxer. A professional competitor since 2008, Adamchuk is a former Glory featherweight champion and three time featherweight title challenger. Combat Press ranked him as a top ten feathe ...

and

Sergei Lashchenko Serhiy Lashchenko (Ukrainian: Сергій Лащенко; 21 June 1987 – 8 April 2015), also spelled as Sergii Lashchenko and Sergei Lascenko, was a Ukrainian kickboxer. He was a K-1 and Superkombat Heavyweight. Lashchenko won the Supe ...

. On November 26, 2009, a fire broke out in the building next to Jim's Gym, and burned down the Gym. The gym was reopened on March 29, 2010. In February 2019, Mike's Gym partnered with the well known Vos Gym, led by Ivan Hippolyte. Both gyms operated under one building.

Notable fighters trained

* Joerie Mes * Melvin Manhoef * Badr Hari * Murthel Groenhart * Gökhan Saki * Artur Kyshenko * Paul Daley * Sahak Parparyan *

* Alistair Overeem * Giga Chikadze *

* Freddy Kemayo * Cosmo Alexandre *

Yousri Belgaroui Yousri Belgaroui (born 2 June 1992) is a Tunisian-Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of Glory, where he is former three-time Glory Middleweight Championship challenger. He was ranked as a top t ...

Donegi Abena Donegi Abena (born February 23, 1998) is a Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer, currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division of Glory. A professional competitor since 2015, Abena is a one-time Glory Light Heavyweight title challenger. He is r ...

* Antonio Plazibat *

Stoyan Koprivlenski Stoyan Koprivlenski (born 21 June 1994) is a Bulgarian Muay Thai kickboxer, fighting out of Oostzaan, Netherlands and currently competing in the lightweight division of Glory. As of December 12, 2021, he is #1 in the official Glory lightweight r ...

Jamal Ben Saddik Jamal Ben Saddik (; born October 3, 1990) is a Belgian-Moroccan professional kickboxer. He is a former two-time Glory Heavyweight Championship challenger and 2018 Glory Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament winner. Combat Press ranked him as a to ...

Anissa Haddaoui Anissa Haddaoui (born 30 May 1991) is a Dutch- Moroccan boxer, kickboxer, muay thai fighter and BJJ practitioner, who has been professionally competing since 2008. She is a former EBF two weight European champion, IRO European and World ki ...

Mellony Geugjes Mellony Geugjes (born ) is a Dutch female kickboxer and mixed martial artist, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She has competed professionally since 2009 and is the current ISKA Featherweight champion which she won by defeating Dilara Yildiz. Mi ...

References

External links

Mike's Gym Official WebsiteOfficial Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Passenier, Mike 1969 births Kickboxing trainers Living people Martial arts school founders Mixed martial arts trainers Sportspeople from Amsterdam