Three-time GLORY Heavyweight contender tournament winner, and two-time title challenger, Benjamin Adegbuyi will replace Nordine Mahieddine in the GLORY Heavyweight Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on March 9.
Mahieddine, who himself stepped in as a replacement for the still injured Antonio Plazibat, has been forced out of the tournament for "health and safety related reasons" according to the promotion. The French fighter appeared quite displeased with his turn of events, writing "with emotions shared between disappointment and hatred... An explanatory video with the truth is coming soon" in a social media post. Such a video hadn't been published at the time of writing this article.
GLORY would then turn to the fans, asking their followers on various social media channels to choose Mahieddine's replacement between Jamal Ben Saddik, Benjamin Adegbuyi and Cihad Kepenek. Although Ben Saddik was by far the most popular pick among the fans, the Dutch-based promptions ultimately settled on Adegbuyi as the eighth and final participant of the Grand Prix.
The long-reigning GLORY Heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven clarified the situation, stating: "Before everyone starts crying again... GLORY Kickboxing approached Jamal Ben Saddik but he refused. So no one's protecting anybody...... if you talk a big game, put your money where your mouth is or shut the fuck up".
Ben Saddik, who was been suspended for PED use between August 2022 and November 2023, hinted at there being more to this story on a few separate occasions, but remained silent on just what the reason for his exclusion could be, despite making such vague remarks for the better part of the past eight months.
