GLORY Kickboxing made a huge announcement on Tuesday when the promotion announced that Artem Vakhitov will return to the kickboxing ring to take on the “King of Kickboxing” Rico Verhoeven for the GLORY heavyweight title. The showdown will take place at GLORY 100 on Saturday, Jun. 14, and, while the venue and broadcast details have not yet been disclosed, it is set to take place in the Netherlands.
Verhoeven, who is widely considered to be the greatest heavyweight kickboxer in history, is on a 21-fight winning streak and has held the GLORY heavyweight championship for over a decade with a whopping 12 title defenses. He most recently fought in Dec. 2024, when he won a unanimous decision over Levi Rigters at GLORY: COLLISION 7. This marked back-to-back wins over Rigters, as the two also fought at the 2024 GLORY Heavyweight Grand Prix nine months prior, when Verhoeven won a second-round TKO after four knockdowns. Meeting Vakhitov is every kickboxing fans dream.
Russia’s Vakhitov is a kickboxing legend in his own right. From Nov. 2015 to Feb. 2023, he went 10-1, mostly under the GLORY banner, which included winning the GLORY light heavyweight title, defending it five times, losing it to Alex Pereira, and winning it back seven months later. Vakhitov then made the move to MMA, went 3-1, including a successful fight on Dana White’s Contender Series that came with a contract offer, but, apparently, has decided to move back to kickboxing.
The champion and former champion are to of the greatest kickboxers in history. Vakhitov is highly technical and disciplined in the ring, and Verhoeven has a ton of power and seemingly endless gas tank. The GLORY 100 headliner could go down as one of the greatest kickboxing superfights of all time.
Stay tuned for more information on venue and broadcast information as the promotion provides updates.