At Glory 32 Virginia, top kickboxing company Glory announced details on their upcoming schedule, and there are some big pieces of news in here for fight fans.
The biggest news is the announcement of a fight that has been brewing for the past few weeks, but which frankly seemed highly unlikely: Rico Verhoeven vs. Badr Hari. The two men will meet in December at a special show titled Glory: Collision, likely in Europe, and the fight will be a 3 round non-title fight. More details to come.
Verhoeven is the Glory Heavyweight champion and the undisputed #1 Heavyweight in kickboxing today. He’s in the midst of a terrific run in Glory, with 4 world title defenses already and wins over major names like Daniel Ghita, Gokhan Saki, Errol Zimmerman, and more. Badr Hari is one of the most dynamic personalities in kickboxing. A throwback to the K-1 era, Hari is equally known for his action-packed fights and his highly unpredictable actions both inside and outside of the ring. He’s been only sporadically active in recent years, but is currently on a 5 fight win streak and coming off a KO win over top Glory contender Ismael Londt. Hari is an all time great Heavyweight, with wins over Semmy Schilt, Peter Aerts, Alistair Overeem and many, many more major names. Whatever you think of Hari, this is undeniably a huge fight – maybe the biggest in kickboxing today.
Check out Glory’s hype video above for Rico vs Badr and Glory: Collision.
Before Verhoeven vs. Hari, Glory will present Glory 33 New Jersey on September 9 in Trenton, NJ. Headlining that show, interestingly enough, is Rico Verhoeven. The always busy champion will defend his title there against Anderson Braddock Silva, a veteran Brazilian fighter who was just victorious at Glory 32. The show also features a Middleweight title fight as Simon Marcus makes his second defense of the belt when he takes on the surging Jason Wilnis. Marcus vs. Wilnis will headline the Superfight Series on UFC Fight Pass. Also on the Superfight Series will be former Bellator champion Zoila Frausto vs. Daniela Graf in a Grand Prix bout. Finally, Glory 33 will include a Featherweight contender tournament – no names announced yet.
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