Glory Kickboxing did not have to look far for a
replacement to Alistair
Overeem for the heavyweight title fight this month.
Overeem
suffered an injury and was forced out of his fight with
heavyweight kingpin Rico
Verhoeven on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Beyond
Kickboxing was the first to report that Glory will be bringing
one of its main card fighters in against Verhoeven, as Jamal Ben
Saddik will face Verhoeven for the third time on Oct. 23. Saddik
was set to take on Benjamin Adegbuyi in a rematch that night, and
Adebguyi will now be facing Antonio Plazibat instead. Sherdog has
since confirmed the news with promotion officials.
Saddik fought Verhoeven in 2017 at Glory 49, and the fight was
close early on before Verhoeven knocked Saddik out in Round 5 with
a head kick. Their first meeting came in 2011, and “Goliath” forced
Verhoeven’s corner to stop the fight a minute into the second
round. Now at 1-1, Verhoeven and Saddik look to conclude their
trilogy with one of the biggest prizes in the sport on the line –
the Glory heavyweight crown.
Since their first battle back in 2011, Verhoeven has gone on to win
the Glory heavyweight title and defend it a remarkable nine times.
Over the years, the man now known as “King of Kickboxing” has
stepped into the Glory ring 22 times, and he has prevailed 20 times
in a row with Glory. This run includes a pair of tournaments as
well as the aforementioned title reign.
Saddik, since his loss to Verhoeven, has gone 4-1 while winning
four straight fights. Following their rematch, the Belgian fell
short to Jahfarr Wilnis in 2018. A knockout of D’Angelo Marshall
earned him a spot in the Glory heavyweight grand prix in 2018,
where he knocked out Junior Tafa, won on the scorecards over
Guto
Inocente and lamped Adegbuyi all in one night. Since that Glory
62 tourney, Saddik has been inactive, suffering injuries and
serving some time in prison after a police raid for drug
distribution and hacked devices.
Glory Collision 3 takes place on Oct. 23 in the Netherlands at the
GelreDome. The pay-per-view can be purchased directly at
glorykickboxing.com, while the preliminary card of Glory 79 will
air on the Sherdog YouTube page.