Pieter stopped a garbage collector at the waste service of the municipality of Breda a few months ago. He collapsed on his sports career to become world champion at Mixed Martial Arts, better known as cage fights. He succeeded and his earlier job as a garbage collector helped him with that. "You have to work hard, you become humble and humble."
When his ex-colleagues drive through the streets, Pieter crawls the blood where it cannot go. Sometimes the martial artist sometimes jumps on the garbage truck to lend a hand. The eyes of the world champion MMA twinkle when we ask him to show us what the life of garbage collector looks like.
The reflective clothing (a safety vest with reflective material) goes on and Pieter joins the base of the waste service in the group of employees who have a break. "To be honest, I sometimes miss it", says Pieter about his previous life as a garbage collector. "Sometimes it does not work, but my colleagues are really brothers, they always supported me when I had a competition, which is also for my colleagues."
Rain, wind, and snow
Pieter stepped down from the garbage truck a few months ago to fully devote himself to his sport. Mixed Martial Arts, a combination of martial arts, formerly also known as cage rights. At the end of September, the dream was fulfilled and he indeed became world champion at the lightweights by defeating opponent Sully Bully. His work as a garbage collector helped him.
"One day you will collect about 20,000 kilos", says Pieter, about the eight years that he collected the garbage in his city of Breda. "There are heavy bins between them, so that makes you strong, you have to work hard and that makes you humble and humble: Rain, wind and snow, you just have to build your character with that."
Poor family
Although he is having fun, Pieter will not return to the garbage truck. He wants to expand his professional life and win many world titles. "I come from a poor family, so financial matters are also important to me", he says. "But the most important thing is the legacy you leave behind."
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