Jamal Ben Saddik has reservations about the title fight between Rico Verhoeven and the Russian Artem Vakhitov. The Belgian Moroccan does not think it is responsible for reigning world champion Verhoeven to compete against a significantly lighter opponent tonight in Rotterdam.
A day before GLORY 100, Ben Saddik made it clear on several occasions that he is not in favor of the heavyweight title fight in Ahoy. At the press conference, he already hinted at his doubts about Verhoeven against Vakhitov, and later he added more behind the scenes.
“I don’t think it’s responsible to let Vakhitov fight him. That is a fighter who has not fought for four years. A light heavyweight who is suddenly allowed to fight for the title,” Ben Saddik told NU.nl, among others. “What does that title actually mean anymore? The fight doesn’t interest me.”
Ben Saddik has his doubts about the way the fight between Verhoeven and former light heavyweight champion Vakhitov came about. “Rico is in a kind of castle and chooses his opponents. His opponent is now much smaller and lighter. That is unhealthy.”
At Friday’s weigh-in, Verhoeven weighed 120.3 kilograms. The slightly increased Vakhitov is now just over 100 kilograms: 103.8. “It is not wise to fight as a light heavyweight against a heavyweight with a weight difference of tens of kilos,” said Ben Saddik. “And it is also not responsible if you receive those blows. When the bell rings, you are no longer busy with anything.”
The 34-year-old Ben Saddik emphasized that it is not about envy. He is not jealous of Vakhitov. “I focus on my own tournament. The real warriors participate in that,” said ‘The Goliath’, who will be in action again in Ahoy on Saturday in the Last Heavyweight Standing tournament. Sixteen fighters are still competing for the title.
“I want to face the biggest fighters and my tournament is the highest achievable. As a fighter, there is no bigger prize to win,” Ben Saddik said firmly. The winner may compete against the reigning champion in 2026: Verhoeven or Vakhitov.
“As a fighter you are open to everything, you never know what the future brings,” Ben Saddik, who twice unsuccessfully challenged Verhoeven for the world title, kept all options open. “But I want to win this tournament first. Does Rico already feel the fear coming?”
GLORY celebrates its hundredth edition in Ahoy on Saturday evening. Jamal Ben Saddik closely witnessed the rise of the kickboxing organization. “Glory 1 was in Moscow in March 2012, I still remember that. We had just come out of a dark period, because K1 had just stopped and kickboxing was on the sidelines for a while,” he says.
“Then came GLORY and in the beginning that was still new. Who are these people, who is this organization and how do they work? But Saturday is GLORY 100, I could never have imagined that then. It was fantastic to experience that growth.”