In a brutal heavyweight battle, Glory kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven retained his title via a grueling 4th round stoppage of Jamal Ben Saddik in the Netherlands Saturday. Saddik came in as a late replacement for Alistair Overeem having split two previous encounters with Verhoeven stopping him back in 2011 but losing by TKO in 2017.

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This time the Dutchman started well moving and working behind a strong jab but toward the end of the first Saddik caught him with a punch that caused his legs to buckle. Verhoeven's hand appeared to touch the mat but the referee, who made questionable calls all evening, waved it off. Saddik, his shin streaming blood from a deep gash, would come back to score a knockdown early in the second though, dropping Verhoeven with a big right hand then hitting him while he was down which failed to draw a warning. Verhoeven, his left eye swollen shut, battled back as the two traded huge punches through the round and into the 3rd when an exhausted Saddik finally ran out of gas. A last flurry from Verhoeven early in the 4th round left Saddik dangling over the ropes having had enough.