Arian Sadikovic has found a new home with GLORY. The 29-year-old welterweight fought his last fight with ONE Championship in June last year when he beat former GLORY champion Nieky Holzken. In GLORY's announcement, it is mentioned that Sadikovic will make his debut at GLORY 95 which will be held in Zagreb, Croatia on September 21st of this year. An opponent is yet to be announced.
INACTIVITY
Sadikovic explains a big reason why he decided not to renew his contract with ONE was the lack of regular fights. In the two years, Sadikovic was under contract, he only fought three times. He also stated that ONE promised him that if he beat Holzken, he would get a rematch for the title against champion Regian Eersel. However, that fight never materialized, and this did not sit well with Sadikovic. "I felt I could have won it," he explains.
Sadikovic is not the first fighter that has complained about inactivity while signed to the Asian Martial Arts giant. Earlier this year Iman Barlow announced her retirement due to not getting fights and kickboxing royalties Chingiz Allazov and Anisa Meksen among others have shared their frustration with ONE in the past.
RETURN TO GLORY
Sadikovic has had an earlier run with GLORY. In 2019 the German from Bosnian descent went 1-1 in the organisation. After losing a split decision in his debut to Mike Lemaire on GLORY 64, he won against fellow German Dani Traore at GLORY 69. When Covid hit, GLORY struggled to put on shows during the lockdowns and went bankrupt not long after. That also marked the end of Sadikovic' first run in GLORY.
After the pandemic calmed down, Sadikovic continued his career in ONE where he earned himself a quick title shot after he won his debut decisively against Mustapha Haida. In the title bout against Regian Eersel, Sadikovic lost but on a razor close decision. A year later he won against Nieky Holzken, which earned him the No. 8 spot on Beyond Kickboxing Welterweight rankings.
