Tiffany Van Soest and Anissa Meksen Turn Years of Championship Rivalry Into a Shared Seminar
Tiffany Van Soest and Anissa Meksen, two of the most accomplished names in kickboxing, are set to host a joint seminar called “The Frienemies Seminar” on May 16 in Solana Beach, California, built around a rivalry that produced several title fights and helped define GLORY’s women’s divisions. Their event leans into that shared history, presenting the seminar as a chance to pass on technical lessons, mindset work, and high-level experience after years spent trying to beat each other at the top of the sport.
Tiffany Van Soest and Anissa Meksen Seminar
With Van Soest and Meksen both built resumes that place them in any serious discussion about the best women to compete in kickboxing. Van Soest became GLORY’s first women’s super bantamweight champion in 2016 and later won the title again, giving her two reigns with five combined title defenses. Before and during that run, she also held Lion Fight titles and built a reputation as one of the key American names in elite women’s striking.
Meksen’s case is just as strong. She won the GLORY title from Van Soest in 2017, defended it, regained it after a later setback, and beat Van Soest again in a rematch. Her record across kickboxing and Muay Thai has long made her one of the sport’s most decorated champions.
Their rivalry is a major part of why this seminar stands out. Meksen defeated Van Soest by unanimous decision at GLORY 48 in New York in 2017 to take the women’s super bantamweight title. They met again in March 2019 at GLORY 64 in Strasbourg, where Meksen kept the belt by split decision in another close fight. Van Soest finally got one back later that year at GLORY 71 in Chicago, winning a decision in a bout that remained part of the sport’s discussion well after the final bell.
The seminar itself is being sold as more than a standard padwork session. Van Soest and Meksen will combine their styles and experience in a format focused on training, performance, and lessons from their careers, then remain on site afterward for a viewing of the upcoming Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano event, with snacks and beverages included. That second piece adds another women’s combat sports angle to the day, as Rousey and Carano are scheduled to meet on May 16 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood on a Most Valuable Promotions card that Netflix and other outlets have described as the streamer’s first live MMA event.
This is a seminar hosted by fighters who tested each other in title fights, traded results across multiple meetings, and built championship résumés strong enough to support the “all-time great” label. On May 16, that rivalry gets a new setting.
