Denis Souza: Kicking for it

Denis Souza is an up and coming kickboxer and muay thai fighter from Brazil. ‘Denis Jr’ has now moved onto the international stage, where he has had breakthrough success, and is well on his way to making  a name for himself in a sport often overshadowed by MMA. Wade McElwain from SportsBoom had the pleasure of interviewing rising kickboxing star Denis Souza and his girlfriend/ translator Pamella Sieleman in an exclusive interview. Denis shared insights into his training regimen, family life, and future wedding plans. 

When asked about his diet, Denis explained: "He understands that his main force is protein that allows him to get stronger based on the protein and his body is very used to it. So it doesn't get too hard for him to lower on the way."Denis prefers to train extensively rather than cut calories or food groups. As his Pamella noted, "He prefers to train 10, 20 times a day rather than cutting on certain foods.”
 As a young man, Denis capable of going for it hard all the time, and able to recover with no ramifications on body or spirit. Lucky him. 

According to Souza, kickboxing has expanded globally, making it hard to pinpoint one country. However, he sees Europe as a dominant force, especially countries like Portugal, Italy, Holland, and Kazakhstan. It’s a whole new world for the Brazilian as he hopes to encounter new formidable opponents in the area: “Seeing Europe dominating the whole kickboxing area. So it ends up being a surprise when you see such countries doing such big stuff in kickboxing.” Denis Jr is ready for the big stuff, and whoever is ready to bring it. 

Denis has been training since age 5 under his father, who is his coach. His whole family works at the gym, so they understand the dedication required. As Denis Jr shared: "It's very easy to be able to separate family and business because they, when all of them are on a diet such as him and his brother, everyone ends up being on a diet. So it's something they're very used to.” This discipline and support helps Denis maintain his mental health during intense training.
 It’s a family affair, when those family affairs are to kick other people in the head.