ONE ON ONE FT. HENDRIK GEEN

ISAAC COHEN: “I’m sitting here with the reigning, defending, undefeated Union GP Welterweight Champion of the world, the man from Dutchland, The man with the most beautiful eyes I have personally ever seen. The Dutch, Hendrik Geen.“

Hendrik sits across the space between them, dressed in a dark olive green pinstriped suit. The set for this interview was basic, with nothing too complex, consisting of a black curtain, two leather chairs with wooden legs, and a table placed near the back for them to set their drinks on. A metal bucket filled with ice and Heineken beer sits on it, a bottle already opened on Hendrik’s side.

HENDRIK GEEN: “I do, uh got my mother’s eyes mate, she’s always told me so. So really, you should be thanking her, yeah?”

He grins, taking a slug of his beer and repositioning the championship belt that drapes from his shoulder.

ISAAC COHEN: “ Well, maybe I should. Do you have her number?”

HENDRIK GEEN: “I wouldn’t do that to you, Cohen. She would chew you up and spit you out, my friend.“

A slight chuckle is shared between the two men, as Issac starts his questioning.

ISAAC COHEN: “When you came to Union, you only had a kickboxer background, do you feel like you’ve had to adapt your game with the transition to MMA?“

HENDRIK GEEN: “Well, I mean of course. You know, this is an all-out sport; you can’t just be good at one thing, you have to be good at many things. They like to call it a jack of all trades sport, but being a jack won’t get you to the top very fast, yeah? I think we’ve seen that with a lot of people, including my Connor, yeah? He’s a great wrestler, but when he’s standing up? Maybe not so much.“

ISAAC COHEN: “Are you worried then, if he takes you to the ground? I know you’ve tried to keep things standing up for the most part. A big clinch man, with those big, beautiful blue eyes.“

HENDRIK GEEN: “No… I’m not worried at all. If he wants to take me to the ground, I will let him. I don’t care what he wants to do, he can do it. I didn’t win this championship because I go into fights thinking I’m going to lose. With fear in me, heart and all of that. I go in, as a warrior, and if I leave as the champion? Then I guess it’s all proven as much, right?”

Hendrik’s broken English wasn’t the best, contrastingly so from how he spoke on X, but Issac seemed captivated nonetheless.

ISAAC COHEN: “You were trained by legendary Hit Squad fighter Jakko Wirman.”

HENDRIK GEEN: “ He’s my cousin.”

ISAAC COHEN: “Right, right, you can see it in your style. Jakko was also a very dangerous kickboxer, but you’ve seemed to have taken all he’s taught you and brought it up another level. Do you think your time in the Royal Netherlands Air Force had any part in that… As you put it, warrior-like quality?”

HENDRIK GEEN: “Koninklijke Luchtmacht! I would say so, right? I mean, you don’t learn to become a warrior anywhere else, I feel. Not just the RNAF, but in most military settings. I was just lucky to have my cousin, to be able to put me on a direction once my time was served. Because you know, I like to fight. I like to drink. I like to fuck! And when you’re left to do that without the discipline, it can become a problem. But Jakko, my brothers, my family, they were very supportive of me. And my transition into professional fighting. So now I still drink, I still fuck, but I make my money off the fighting. I have an incredible team backing me up, and the love of many women.”

Hendrik shoots Issac a glance, and they both raise their beers in a “I’ll drink to that moment.“

ISAAC COHEN: “That’s funny because, and well, I don’t know if many people know this. But your younger brother, Ichabod Geen, better known to the world as Ichabod Thrasher, also trained in mixed martial arts at a young age. And your parents, well, they have some accolades on their own in the world outside of combat sports. Marjo being a successful psychologist as well author. And your father, with his contribution to the LNV and ecology as a whole.“

HENDRIK GEEN: “Yes, my mother and father are very smart, and my brother is very young. Still learned I would say, but we’re a big family, and we all have our things. But we’re all very successful in what we do, you know? We do it in our, uh, own way, mate. And I think we’re all the better for it. Many stars in the sky, my family. But I don’t care about being a star; that isn’t shooting.  I’m here for the fight of it, for the survival of it. I want to face adversity, challenges, and I want to overcome them, beat them into the mat.“ 

ISAAC COHEN: “Fair enough, that doesn’t sound too far off from another one of your trainers, and founder of Hit Squad, Dog Face Donnie Calabrese. And I don’t need to tell you all he’s accomplished. How does it feel to have that kind of man in your corner?“

HENDRIK GEEN: “It’s why I’m champion, mate. Because not only am I the best at what I do, but I surround myself by the best at what they do. Donnie, Roscoe, Jakko… They’re my mentors, and they are an elite group of fighters that I don’t think anyone can stand up to. They breed actual killers.“

Downing the last of his beer, Hendrik grins wide, looking into the camera.

ISAAC COHEN: “You really can’t deny that, looking at the roster. Is there anything else you’d like to say before your title defense at UGP 68?“

HENDRIK GEEN: “Sorry, Alberta, but I’m sending your son home in a body bag… Just the way it is, blood for blood. He wants what I have, and I will not give it to him. He will try, and he will fall. But I respect him for it, all we can do is try.“