UNDISPUTED @ricoverhoeven
#COLLISION3 pic.twitter.com/Kuh4Y4J0r3— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS)
October 23, 2021
Rico
Verhoeven reminded everyone why he is nicknamed the “King of
Kickboxing.”
The headliner featured a heavyweight clash between defending
champion Rico
Verhoeven (59-10) and former two-time rival Jamal Ben Saddik
(35-8). The challenger was supposed to be combat sports legend
Alistair
Overeem, but an injury forced “The Demolition Man” out of the
fight. Verhoeven moved around his opponent for most of the time in
the opening round, studying his reactions, before Ben Saddik almost
knocked him down right before the end of the stanza. Ben Saddik
pushed on the accelerator early in Round 2, dropping Verheoven and
opening a cut under his right eye.
Verhoeven fought through adversity and made some adjustments after
the second stanza as his eye kept swelling. In Round 3, the
Dutchman retaliated with several knees, showcased better footwork
than his opponent, and landed crisper shots. Ben Saddik took heavy
punishment and looked as if he was almost out on the feet, paying
the toll for his previous foray in terms of stamina. Momentum being
on Verhoeven’s side and with Ben Saddik out of energy, Verhoeven
landed heavy punches until his opponent nearly went over the ropes.
The referee counted out Ben Saddik, placing the stoppage at the
official time at 54 seconds into Round 4. In addition to defending
his championship, Verhoeven ended the trilogy with Ben Saddik on
his terms.
In the co-main event, Ultimate Fighting Championship alum and
kickboxing vet Gokhan Saki
(101-14) made his kickboxing return six years after his latest
fight as he locked horns with “The Ultimate Fighter Season 10”
graduate James
McSweeney (46-5) in the heavyweight division. The Englishman
started strong and appeared to knock down Saki early in the fight
with a head kick. However, the referee didn’t deem the shot an
official knockdown. The Turkish then attempted to chop down
McSweeney’s legs and busted his nose with his legendary
combinations. Saki kept targeting McSweeney’s legs in Round 2 until
his opponent collapsed on the canvas and never got back up for the
counting. The referee stopped the contest after 2 minutes, 13
seconds in Round 2, rewarding “The Rebel” with a TKO victory.
During the event, the promotion announced onetime Glory 170-pound
kingpin Joseph “Bazooka Joe” Valtellini as the first inductee in
its Hall of Fame.
Elsewhere, no. 1 ranked welterweight Mohamed Mezouari “Hamicha”
(42-2) knocked down Samo Dbili (10-5) three times in the opening
frame thanks to vicious punches to the liver, forcing the end of
the contest at 2:27 mark in Round 1 due to the maximum times of
knockdowns allowed by Glory rules in one round. Prior to that, One
Championship vet Sergej Maslobojev (33-5) did enough to outpoint
Surinamese-Dutch fighter Donegi Abena (15-8) on the scorecards
thanks to a split decision at light heavyweight; Antonio Plazibat
(20-4) scored an impressive upset after knocking out kickboxing vet
Benjamin Adegbuyi (35-7) with an anvil-heavy series of punches 24
seconds into Round 2.
The main card opened with a TKO landed by “The Dream Crusher”
Michael Duut (44-13-1) at the expense of John King
(14-7-1), stopping his opponent with a knee at the 1:07 mark of the
second frame.
The featured fight on the preliminary card saw former World
Muaythai Council titleholder Alim Nabiev (52-8) upending Troy Jones
(14-3) via unanimous decision after a hard-fought contest at
welterweight. Prior, two-time Tatneft Cup winner Aleksei Ulianov
(30-7-1) avenged a previous defeat at the hands of former Glory
divisional kingpin Serhii Adamchuk (40-13) after edging his
opponent via split decision in their featherweight battle; Serkan
Ozcaglayan (41-6) scored an impressive promotional debut after
smashing no. 4 ranked Matt Baker
(24-8) 0:58 seconds into their middleweight affair.
In the first fight on the event, 27-year-old Stoyan
Koprivlenski (14-5) outstruck Bruno Gazani (67-7-1) at
lightweight en route to a unanimous decision where all judges
scored 30-27 in favor of “The Sniper.”