On Saturday, Dec. 9, GLORY Kickboxing hosted its third-ever pay-per-view card, dubbed GLORY: Redemption, from the Ahoy Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
In the night’s main event, GLORY heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven rematched Jamal Ben Saddik. The pair met in 2011 under the It’s Showtime banner, with Ben Saddik stopping the future champion by second-round TKO. Since the first meeting, Verhoeven has gone on to become one of the sport’s pound-for-pound elite. The Dutchman had won 13 straight fights inside the GLORY ring, including five title defenses. Known as “Goliath,” Ben Saddik stands at 6-foot-9 and weighs in at nearly 300 pounds. The Moroccan-Belgian fighter had won four straight overall to earn his right to challenge for the belt. This time around, Verhoeven dominated all but the first round, and finished the big man in the fifth with a flurry of punches.
The GLORY 49 SuperFight Series featured a middleweight title clash between recently crowned champion Alex Pereira and tournament winner Yousri Belgaroui. In the third round, Pereira cut Belgaroui badly and the doctor stopped the fight in favor of the Brazilian.
The lightweight division was be the focus of the GLORY 49 portion of the event, as Christian Baya took on Samo Petje and four fighters competed in a one-night, four-man lightweight contender tournament.
GLORY 49 kicked off at 11 a.m. ET with five bouts streaming live on ESPN3. The action moved to UFC Fight Pass at 1:30 p.m. ET for the five-fight SuperFight Series card. Finally, the four-fight GLORY: Redemption main card aired live at 4 p.m. ET.
Danyo Ilunga def. Michael Duut by knockout (punch). Round 3, 2:26
Bailey Sugden def. Chenglong Zhang by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao def. Zakaria Zouggary by knockout (head kick). Round 3, 2:09
Alex Pereira def. Yousri Belgaroui by TKO (doctor’s stoppage). Round 3, 1:52 – for middleweight title
Alim Nabiyev def. Nieky Holzken by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
D’Angelo Marshall def. Ismael Londt by unanimous decision (29-27, 28-27, 28-27, 28-27, 28-27)
Anderson “Braddock” Silva def. Brian Douwes by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Eyevan Danenberg def. Jamie Bates by unanimous decision (30-24 x 5)
Stoyan Koprivlenski def. Tyjani Beztati by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27, 30-26, 30-26) – lightweight tournament final
Christian Baya def. Samo Petje by knockout (left hook to the body). Round 1, 1:26
Omar Moreno def. Anying Wang by unanimous decision
Tyjani Beztati def. Niclas Larsen by unanimous decision (30-27 x 5) – lightweight tournament semifinal
Stoyan Koprivlenski def. Maykol Yurk by knockout (right head kick). Round 1, 2:44 – lightweight tournament semifinal