Outside Source
At the age of 60, Wiet, a champion in multiple kickboxing and muay thai organizations and a competitor on the second-ever Ultimate Fighting Championship event, died after a lengthy battle with an undisclosed illness. As a professional, Wiet’s record stood at a lone win opposite five defeats, but that only accounts for his time as a mixed martial artist. French outlet Les Infos du Fight broke the news on Thursday.
Born in Suriname and trained in the ways of Dutch kickboxing alongside legendary names like Ramon Dekkers, Bas Rutten and Fred Royers, Wiet officially represented kickboxing at UFC 2 in 1994. Inside of the Mammoth Gardens in Denver, “The Gladiator” picked up his sole career triumph when he beat far larger fellow kickboxer Robert Lucarelli so badly that his team had to throw in the towel. This brutal win helped put European muay thai on the map of the burgeoning MMA landscape.
Weighing around 70 pounds more than his adversary, Lucarelli attempted to grapple with the fighter hailing at the time from France. The smaller, slicker Wiet survived an unorthodox reverse bulldog choke while on the ground to recover and shellack Lucarelli with soccer kicks, knees and a torrent of destructive 12-to-6 elbows—rules at the time permitted all of these blows that were later banned stateside.
Having advanced to the quarterfinals, Wiet was matched against the massive Remco Pardoel, who stood at least six inches taller while weighing around 90 pounds heavier. The relatively diminutive Wiet was hurled to the mat by the judoka right off the bat, and he could not get off his back while the gi-clad Pardoel smothered him. His UFC tournament dreams when up in smoke when Pardoel sent him to dreamland with a finalizing barrage of devastating elbows.
Wiet returned the following year at the first United Full Contact Federation event, where he was matched against someone his own size in American grappler and middleweight Todd Bjornethun. Wiet succumbed to a triangle choke after over five minutes of action, which set the stage for the remainder of his professional career. After a decade away—much of it spent inside of the kickboxing ring—Wiet tried three more times in his native Europe to pick up another victory, only for Mario Stapel, Paul Jenkins and Zoran Milovic to tap him out in their respective matches.
Fast as Lightning
Given the spotty nature of recordkeeping for kickboxing and muay thai, Wiet’s pro record remains a bit nebulous but ran upwards of 180 bouts depending on the source. At the time of his 1994 UFC debut, announcer Rich Goins claimed his record was 54-9 with 12 knockouts, where he served as the “1993 muay thai world champion” without designating which organization or location. He was also said to have “dominated the world of thai boxing for seven years, fast as lightning.”
In addition to his lengthy kickboxing career that spanned well over a decade, Wiet competed as a boxer in 23 matches across Asia and Europe. After four of his first five bouts coming in Yokohama and Nagoya, Japan, the Netherlands resident returned to his native Europe to throw down and pick up 11 wins, six of those by stoppage. Of note, he outpointed up-and-comer Alloua Anko (11-2) in 1997 and 26-3-3 Andras Galfi the year after.
Les Infos du Fight contacted friend and fellow training partner Gregory Tony, himself a champion-level heavyweight kickboxer from France. Tony mourned his fallen friend, while giving thanks to those that took care of him during his illness.
“It’s really sad, I’m really hurt because, again, it’s a departure too soon,” Tony said, translation via Google Translate. “He gave us his warrior spirit in the ring. He’s done some amazing things in boxing all over the world, not to mention the UFC. He was someone who gave so much to others, as a coach. When Orlando fought, the crowd moved in en masse to see this formidable boxer. I would like to thank Chayem Arezki, who has been taking care of Orlando for more than two months, giving him all the care he needed, shaving, feeding him, keeping him company and most of all letting everyone know about the situation. A big thank you to him.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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