Videos: Massive riot during Badr Hari’s bout forces event cancellation, GLORY issues statement

Kickboxing legend Badr Hari was supposed to settle the score with Arkadiusz Wrzosek, but a violent riot erupted midway through the fight which caused the bout — and the entire event — to be cancelled.

Hari was thoroughly dominating their first contest last September, before Wrzosek found a way to score an insane comeback with a head kick knockout. During this rematch in Belgium, Wrzosek landed a flying knee that dropped Hari in the second round.

Chaos ensued at the Trixxo Arena soon after, with several people from the crowd starting a riot that only progressively got worse.

Despite organizers and fighters’ attempts to get the crowd to settle down, things only got more violent. Chairs and equipment were being thrown, and the event was eventually called off. The main event bout in Jamal Ben Saddik vs Levi Rigters never got to push through, and the Hari-Wrzosek’s rematch was declared a no-contest.

GLORY has since released an official statement on the riot and subsequent cancellation.

“GLORY deeply regrets that GLORY 80 was interrupted by people exhibiting unsafe behavior,” the statement read. “We never condone or accept behavior that endangers other fans that come to our events to enjoy a night of top sport. Upon the request of the police in the city of Hasselt, we stopped the event after the 2nd round of Hari – Wrzosek.

“We apologize to the fans who did not get to see the end of this bout and the Ben Saddik – Rigters matchup. Also to the athletes who trained so hard and did not get to compete. Martial arts is a sport of respect and fair competition inside and outside of the ring.”

Watch clips from the madness below: