The scheduled for October 23 GLORY 79 aka Collision 3 fight card suffered a blow, as Alistair Overeem was forced to withdraw from his fight against Rico Verhoeven. A new main event has been set featuring Jamal Ben Saddik going up against reigning heavyweight champion in their trilogy fight. A highly anticipated matchup headlines kickboxing event live on pay-per-view from GelreDome in Arnhem, Holland.
The promotion announced the withdrawal of Overeem due to an undisclosed injury via a post on Instagram. It is also advised that former K-1, DREAM and StrikeForce heavyweight champion, who also challenged for UFC heavyweight title, can not fight until early 2022.
Verhoeven and Ben Saddik were initially scheduled to square off in January. The fight fell off after the latter suffered “a serious back injury“.
Ben Saddik was set to make his return on October 23 in the rematch against mandatory heavyweight contender Benjamin Adegbuyi, who he defeated by knockout in the first round in December 2018. With Ben Saddik moved to the main event against Verhoeven, Adegbuyi now faces Antonio Plazibat.
Plazibat, meanwhile was scheduled to faces James McSweeney, who now takes on kickboxing star Gokhan Saki. The latter makes his ring return after securing the 1-1 record inside the UFC Octagon.
Verhoeven and Ben Saddik previously met twice. Their first fight held over ten years ago ended in favor of Ben Saddik who secured the win via first-round TKO (corner stoppage). Late 2017 Verhoeven took the revenge when he stopped his opponent in Round 5.
The changes come several days after Collision 3 and Glory 79 fight cards have been announced as “finalized”. The current lineup looks as the following:
GLORY 79 Collision 3 fight card
Main Card (Collision 3)
- Rico Verhoeven vs. Jamal Ben Saddik – Verhoeven’s GLORY heavyweight title
- Gokhan Saki vs. James McSweeney
- Mohamed Mezouari aka “Hamicha” vs. Eyevan Danenberg
- Donegi Abena vs. Sergej Maslobojev
- Benjamin Adegbuyi vs. Antonio Plazibat
- Michael Duut vs. John King
Preliminary card (Glory 79)
- Alim Nabiev vs. Troy Jones
- Ertugrul Bayrak vs. Matej Penaz
- Matt Baker vs. Serkan Ozcaglayan
- Stoyan Koprivlenski vs. Bruno Gazani
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