Belgian heavyweight Jamal Ben Saddik has been issued with a six-month suspension by a GLORY disciplinary committee.
It comes after Ben Saddik’s disqualification in a June 29 fight with fellow GLORY heavyweight Hesdy Gerges at Qabala FC 1 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Ben Saddik caught a Gerges kick and forced the Egyptian to the floor, whereupon he set about him with blows. The referee intervened to stop the attack and disqualified Ben Saddik at 0:20 of the first round.
Because both Ben Saddik and Gerges had obtained permission to fight on the show from GLORY, they were bound by GLORY discipline.
“Sometimes we allow fighters to take a fight outside of GLORY, at our discretion we will give permission,” GLORY matchmaker Cor Hemmers tells Bloody Elbow.
“As part of that permission the fighters are reminded that they are bound by the terms of their GLORY contract. That includes the clauses relating to matters of discipline such as this.
“Ben Saddik’s actions risked bringing our sport into disrepute. An internal disciplinary panel consisting of staff from several GLORY departments, including legal, has now decided to issue a six-month suspension.”
Hemmers also revealed that Ben Saddik’s contract with GLORY will expire during the time that the suspension runs its course. It expires on December 29, which means Ben Saddik will be out of contract when 2015 commences.
But in a sliver of consolation for ‘The Goliath’, Hemmers has indicated that GLORY may return him to the ranks provided all sides can be confident this was an incident which will never be repeated.
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