Marc de Bonte (27 February 1990 – 5 November 2016) was a Belgian

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

who competed in the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

and cruiserweight divisions. He won bronze at the IFMA World Championships in 2010 and silver in 2012 as an amateur, and debuted with the Glory promotion in October 2012. De Bonte went missing on the night/early morning of 4 and 5 November 2016.

Career

De Bonte began practicing

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

and

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

at six years old. As an amateur, he took a bronze medal at the 2010 IFMA World Championships in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. He followed this up with a silver at the 2012 games in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

where he lost to

Artem Levin Artem Valeryevich Levin (; born December 8, 1986), also known as Artem "The Lion" Levin, is a Russian middleweight Muay Thai kickboxer fighting out of Prokopyevsk. He is the former Glory Middleweight Champion, as well as the former It's Showti ...

in the final. In 2011, he signed with the Muaythai Premier League. Still, he was able to fight just once in the short-lived promotion, a

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

win over

Jiri Zak Jiri () is a municipality in Dolakha District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 13,638 people. Jiri, which lies about 190 kilometers from Kathmandu, is the main gateway to the ...

at ''Muaythai Premier League: Strength and Honor'' in

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 8 October 2011. He knocked out Michael Buxant via a fifth round knee at ''MaxPain'' in Genk, Belgium on 10 February 2012 to win the Belgian −81 kg/181 lb Championship. The following year, de Bonte was recruited by Glory, the world's premier kickboxing organization. He made his promotional debut at '' Glory 2: Brussels'' on 6 October 2012 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

where he lost to

Murthel Groenhart Murthel Cyrill Dwyth Groenhart (born October 10, 1986) is a Dutch-Surinamese kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Groenhart is the 2012 K-1 World MAX World Championship Tournament Champion and former Glory Welterweight Champion. Kickboxing ca ...

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

from a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

in round two of their 79 kg/175 lb bout. He returned at '' Glory 6: Istanbul'' in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on 6 April 2013, moving up to the 85 kg/187 lb division to face L'houcine "Aussie" Ouzgni. He won via a knee KO early in round one to move up to the #3 spot in Glory's middleweight rankings. He was set to fight

Nieky Holzken Nicolaas Hubertus Holzken (born December 16, 1983) is a Dutch kickboxer and professional boxer currently signed to ONE Championship, where he competes in the Lightweight#Kickboxing, Lightweight division. He is the former Glory (kickboxing)#Glory ...

in the '' Glory 13: Tokyo - Welterweight World Championship Tournament'' semi-finals in Tokyo, Japan on 21 December 2013. However, he was then replaced by Raymond Daniels in the tournament for undisclosed reasons. He was set to fight against

for the inaugural Glory Welterweight (-77.1 kg/170 lb) Championship at '' Glory 14: Zagreb'' in Zagreb, Croatia on 8 March 2014 but the fight was cancelled when Holzken suffered a shoulder injury in a car accident. The match was rescheduled for '' Glory 16: Denver'' in Broomfield, Colorado, US on 3 May 2014 but Holzken withdrew once again due to his recurring shoulder injury and was replaced by Karapet Karapetyan. De Bonte defeated Karapetyan via a split decision to take the title. He lost his title against Joseph Valtellini at '' Glory 17: Los Angeles'' in Inglewood, California, US on 21 June 2014 when he dropped a unanimous decision. Both fighters scored knockdowns in the fight; Valtellini dropped de Bonte with a high kick in round three, while de Bonte floored Valtellini with a

flying knee A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike (attack), strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent. ...

in round four.

Missing person case and death

On the night of 4 November 2016 De Bonte attended a party organized by the gym he worked at in

Bladel Bladel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, Southern Netherlands. In 2019, it had a population of 20,175. Population centres Topography ''Dutch Topogr ...

, Netherlands. He left the party and texted his girlfriend, telling her he would stop by a friend for a drink in Turnhout, Belgium, before going to her place in Best, the Netherlands. De Bonte never arrived at his girlfriend's place and he was reported missing by his family. His car was found next to the

Wilhelmina Canal The Wilhelmina Canal is a canal in North-Brabant, Netherlands. It connects Tilburg to the Meuse, and continues to the east to connect to the Zuid-Willemsvaart north of Helmond. Characteristics The Wilhelmina Canal runs from the Zuid-Willemsvaar ...

, a canal which runs through

Best, Netherlands Best () is a municipality and a village in the province of North Brabant, southern Netherlands. It is situated northwest of the city Eindhoven, and is part of Brabant's city region. The headquarters of one of Europe's largest meat processors, ...

. Extensive police searches in the Netherlands and Belgium did not lead to any clues on De Bonte's whereabouts. On 24 November De Bonte's body was discovered floating in the Wilhelmina Canal in

Oirschot Oirschot (; ''Orskot'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and town in the province of North Brabant (Noord-Brabant) in the southern Netherlands. It is from Eindhoven and from Tilburg. The municipality had a population of in . Populat ...

, not far from the place where his car was discovered. The cause of death has not been determined yet, with the autopsy having taken place on 26 November.

Championships and accomplishments

Kickboxing

* Glory ** Glory Welterweight (-77kg/170lb) Championship (one time; first) *Belgian Kickboxing **Belgian −81 kg/181 lb Championship *International Federation of Muaythai Amateur **2010 IFMA World Championships −81 kg/178 lb Bronze Medalist Med 3

**2012 IFMA World Championships −81 kg/178 lb Silver Medalist Med 2

Boxing record

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 2011-11-11 , , Win , , align=left, Antonio Manuel , , Sporthal Arena, Deurne , , Antwerp, Belgium , , Decision (unanimous) , , 4 , , 3:00 , , 1-0 , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

Kickboxing record

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 2016-09-10, , Win , , align=left, Artur Gorlov, , Kunlun Fight 51 - 80 kg 2016 Tournament Quarter-Finals , ,

Fuzhou, China Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

, , TKO , , 3 , , , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2014-06-21 , , Loss , , align=left, Joseph Valtellini , , Glory 17: Los Angeles , ,

Inglewood, California, USA Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2014-05-03 , , Win , , align=left, Karapet Karapetyan , , Glory 16: Denver , , Broomfield, Colorado, USA , , Decision (split) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2013-04-06 , , Win , , align=left,

L'houcine Ouzgni L'houcine "Aussie" Ouzgni (born 10 March 1983) is a Dutch-Moroccan former Light Heavyweight/Middleweight Muay Thai kickboxer. Aussie was known as a firm fan favorite in the Netherlands due to his exciting style and knockout power, likened to a s ...

, , Glory 6: Istanbul , , Istanbul, Turkey , , KO (left knee) , , 1 , , 1:16 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2012-10-06 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Glory 2: Brussels , , Brussels, Belgium , , KO (knee) , , 2 , , , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2012-02-10 , , Win , , align=left, Michael Buxant , , MaxPain , , Genk, Belgium , , KO (knee) , , 5 , , , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2011-10-08 , , Win , , align=left,

, , Muaythai Premier League: Strength and Honor , , Padova, Italy , , Decision (split) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2011-04-09 , , Win , , align=left, Fikri Demirci , , A1 World Combat Cup , , Eindhoven, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2010-11-21 , , Win , , align=left, Joep Beerepoot , , , , Zaandam, Netherlands , , , , , , , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2010-00-00 , , Win , , align=left, Michael Smit , , , , Belgium , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2008-01-19 , , Win , , align=left, Geronimo de Groot , , Heat FC , , Heesch, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 2:00 , - , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2012-09-11 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , IFMA 2012 World Championships, Final , , Saint Petersburg, Russia , , Decision , , 4 , , 2:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - bgcolor="#cfc" , 2012-09-11 , , Win , , align=left, Kada Bouamama , , 2012 IFMA World Championships, Semi Finals, ,

Saint Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, , , , , , , - bgcolor="#cfc" , 2012-09-10 , , Win , , align=left, Kim Olsen , , 2012 IFMA World Championships, Quarter Finals, ,

, , , , , , , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

Official site

Official MPL profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonte, Marc de 1990 births 2016 deaths Light-heavyweight boxers Belgian male kickboxers Light heavyweight kickboxers Cruiserweight kickboxers Belgian male Muay Thai practitioners Sportspeople from Turnhout Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian male boxers Glory champions Glory kickboxers Kunlun Fight kickboxers 21st-century Belgian sportsmen