Rico Verhoeven from Halsteren added another nice prize to his impressive list of honors on Saturday. ‘The King of Kickboxing’, world champion for ten years without interruption, won the Glory Grand Prix for heavyweights in a well-filled Gelredome. He defeated his compatriot Levi Rigters in the final, who had to give up in the second round after falling for the fourth time.
Verhoeven earned $500,000 with his final victory. The 34-year-old Verhoeven seemed to be on his way to an easy victory in the final. He knocked down the 28-year-old Rigters twice in the first round. But in the second round Verhoeven suddenly had to go to the ground. The kickboxer from Halsteren staggered for a moment but quickly got things in order.
The Grand Prix for heavyweights was somewhat reminiscent of the K1, a tournament with big winners such as Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, Semmy Schilt and Remy Bonjasky that had its heyday in Tokyo at the end of the last and beginning of this century. Organizer Glory has only organized title fights and no tournaments in the past ten years.
Almost came to blows with arch rival
Verhoeven feared that the best kickboxer might not win the Grand Prix, because the risk of injury loomed before the final battle. But he reached the final quite easily. The Brabander opened his Grand Prix with a victory over the Frenchman Sofian Laïdouni. He also took three rounds in the semi-final battle for a victory over 23-year-old Nabil Khachab.
Shortly after his semi-final, Verhoeven almost came to blows with his arch-rival Jamal Ben Saddik, who was in Khachab’s corner. The Belgian Moroccan made a kicking motion at him.
Security guards who rushed over managed to keep the two kickboxers apart with great difficulty. “He kicked at me,” Verhoeven said. “I just clearly won. And then he comes back into the ring. This man should simply be banned from this sport. It is unacceptable.”
The bad relationship between Verhoeven and Ben Saddik goes back to 2017, when the Dutchman was spat in the face during a staredown by the kickboxer representing Morocco. Verhoeven defeated Ben Saddik in 2021 during a fierce fight in the Gelredome.