Video: Rico Verhoeven backstage after GLORY 26 knockout win

"Think of anywhere that this [first round KO] scenario could happen, and it happens right here in Amsterdam? Yeah it's crazy man. I still…

By: John Joe O'Regan | 7 years ago
Video: Rico Verhoeven backstage after GLORY 26 knockout win
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

“Think of anywhere that this [first round KO] scenario could happen, and it happens right here in Amsterdam? Yeah it’s crazy man. I still have goosebumps,” he says.

“Everybody went crazy. I could feel the whole crowd was right behind me, pushing me and supporting me, giving me their love and energy.”

“I stood on that catwalk [on the way to the ring] and all the iPhone lights… it was like a f–king concert man. I took that energy into the ring and that is why I finished my fight quick.”

On Adegbuyi’s performance at GLORY 26 versus their first fight at GLORY 22 FRANCE in June, which went the distance, he said, “This time he started really slow. In France he started really fast and tried to bring the pressure. And for me, it is fine either way. If he started with a high pace I knew he would gas after a few rounds and if he started slow… well, you saw what happened.”

“I asked him afterwards, backstage, why were you so slow? You were like stuck in the mud. And he said, ‘I don’t know, maybe the pressure or something.'”

Verhoeven now finds himself atop a division which he has largely cleared out. GLORY may want to reach out to fighters who hold past victories over him, with Andre Gerasimchuk being the most recent. Jamal Ben Saddik also holds a win over Verhoeven from 2012 but recent results place him well away from a title fight.

Share this story

About the author
John Joe O'Regan
John Joe O'Regan

More from the author

Recent Stories