Kim Huybrechts recalls time Michael van Gerwen cracked Jonny Clayton in the head with metal rod: "Not like there’s anything in Clayton’s head anyway"

In a new episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast, Kim Huybrechts shared a memorable anecdote about Michael van Gerwen that caused quite a stir at a recent tournament.

Podcast host Damian Vlottes recently bumped into Van Gerwen at Night 13 of the Premier League in Birmingham — and got a taste of MVG’s trademark heavy-handed humour.

“He almost slapped my wrist back to the Netherlands,” Vlottes joked. “That’s just a bit of Michael’s style — that aggression with a smile.”

“He doesn’t always know his own strength,” Kim Huybrechts added. “You can compare him to a big, clumsy St. Bernard dog — overjoyed to see you, but barging you out of the way without meaning to.”

Vincent van der Voort, Van Gerwen’s best friend and fellow podcast guest, agreed: “He’s very strong, but yeah, clumsy too.”

Huybrechts then recounted an incident from a tournament a few weeks ago. He, Niels Zonneveld, Wessel Nijman, and Van Gerwen were warming up together when MVG’s clumsiness caused unexpected chaos.

“We were chatting and Michael wanted to stretch a bit. So he grabbed one of the metal poles on the oche and yanked it upwards, right into his own face. But that pole was connected to other metal rods on the next board. One of them snapped loose and crashed straight onto Jonny Clayton’s head. It smacked him really hard."

“Then we just hear Michael shout: ‘Yep, that was me!’ And of course, he couldn’t resist adding, ‘Not like there’s anything in Clayton’s head anyway.’”