Glory Collision 3 will see a heavyweight championship fight alongside five other battles taking place across the welterweight, heavyweight, and light heavyweight divisions. Rico Verhoeven takes on his longtime nemesis Jamal Ben Saddik. The legend Gokhan Saki will make his long-awaited return to the sport. And a potential welterweight title challenger in the form of Hamicha will get the chance to strut his stuff once again.
Glory Collision 3 Headliner: Verhoeven vs Ben Saddik
The headliner of Glory Collision 3 will be none other than the king of kickboxing himself, the chessmaster with the quicksilver jab, Rico Verhoeven. Verhoeven has laid his opponents to waste across the heavyweight landscape for many years, and has emerged victorious after a bitter two-fight rivalry with the legendary Badr Hari.
Verhoeven faces a familiar face in Jamal Ben Saddik. The two have come to blows twice before, once at an It’s Showtime event in 2011 when Verhoeven retired after two rounds, and then once more for the Glory heavyweight championship in 2017 when Ben Saddik was finished by a devastating head kick followed by a vicious combination. The rubber match is again for heavyweight gold. Ben Saddik will seek to leverage his ferocious power to try and time counterpunches in response to kicks while Verhoeven’s jab, low kicks, chin and conditioning will likely be his keys to victory. Most fans will be eagerly expecting a repeat of their previous encounter, a thrill-ride that saw Verhoeven seriously hurt in the first and third rounds only to recover with championship mettle.
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Glory Collision 3 Co-Main Event: Saki vs McSweeney
In the co-main event, after six long years of absence, the Turkish kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki returns to the Glory ring. Saki made his name at heavyweight battling legends like Hari, Peter Aerts and Alistair Overeem but found his most recent success at light heavyweight taking wins over Nathan Corbett and Tyrone Spong. The ferocious combination striker took a sabbatical to make an attempt at an MMA career, even making it to the UFC, but has returned to his home turf after a brutal KO loss to Khalil Rountree.
He faces James McSweeney, an MMA journeyman who has also acquired a kickboxing record of 46-7. Both are considered to be at least somewhat past their best. This will likely prove a strong barometer to see whether Saki has much more left in the tank, while McSweeney has a chance to make his name with a win over a respected veteran.
Glory Collision 3: Other Fights
The card will also feature Glory’s #1 ranked welterweight Hamicha taking on Samuel Dbili. The knockout artist Hamicha has the opportunity to build momentum for a possible championship shot, while Dbili will seek to recover from losing his Glory debut. At light heavyweight, the #3 and #5 ranked contenders Donegi Abena and Sergej Maslobojev will lock horns. Abena seeks to break a three-fight losing streak, while a victory for Maslobojev could potentially propel him towards a shot at the belt.
There will also be a heavyweight bout between Glory’s tournament veteran Benjamin Adegbuyi and the fierce Croatian Antonio Plazibat. Adegbuyi has achieved a coveted victory over the legend Badr Hari, meaning Plazibat has the opportunity to try and steal some of that shine for himself. The card will be rounded off by a light heavyweight fight between fan favourite veteran Michael Duut and the American rookie John King. Duut will be looking to bust a three-fight slump while King will need to overcome a pronounced experience disadvantage with the vigor of youth.
