It was the third time Badr Hari and Alistair Overeem were in the ring together. Overeem knocked out Hari in the first round in 2008, the tables were turned a year later. Before that, both kickboxers had already indicated that this was their last fight against each other. Hari seemed to announce his retirement afterwards.
This time there was no quick knockout and the fight ended in round three. Hari was much better than Overeem in the first lap and dealt some serious blows. That also happened in the second round, until Overeem suddenly threw an uppercut from his socket. It hit Hari very hard and he faltered for a moment.
Overeem knew he had to force something on the last lap. He struck mercilessly and saw Hari go to the ground twice. The jury logically also awarded him the win.
With that, Hari lost for the seventh time in a row, his last victory was in 2015. Afterwards, Hari seemed to announce his retirement as a kickboxer. “I’m thinking of ending my career. So if I don’t see you anymore, thank you so much for everything.”
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Rigters beats Osaro
Rigters’ match was a warm-up for Hari against Overeem. The kickboxer was supposed to face Jamal Ben Saddik in March, but that fight was called off due to riots. In preparation for the confrontation with Tariq Osaro, Rigters had gone to Morocco for two weeks on a training camp. That paid off tonight.
Levi Rigters was unanimously chosen as the winner by the jury. He came into action during the first fight of the evening. The Amsterdammer started badly and saw the first round go to Osaro. The Amsterdammer was keen to pick himself up and he succeeded. Rigters was much sharper on the second lap and came back. Despite a lesser final round, the kickboxer was unanimously declared the winner.
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Amsterdam success
The American Tiffany van Soest, living in Amsterdam, successfully defended her world title. She defeated France’s Sarah Moussaddak by unanimous decision. Tyjani Beztati from Amsterdam again took the lightweight title. He defeated the Bulgarian Stoyan Koprivlenski.