With GLORY’s recent focus on the heavyweight division, many eyes were on the return of "Goliath" Jamal Ben Saddik. The 34-year-old stepped back into the ring after more than two years away, delivering a lackluster performance that was ultimately salvaged by a huge knockout against Uku Jürjendal.
Chico Kwasi managed to defend his welterweight title for a second time, while Michael Boapeah and Hamicha had impressed with dominant performances.
JAMAL SCORES HUGE
After a nervous start from Uku Jurjendal where he failed to set up the calf kicks that brought him success against Badr Hari, both fighters came to a stalemate. While Uku was waiting for some action from Jamal Ben Saddik to counter, the Dutch-Moroccan seemed to be content with waiting out Jurjendal's inactivity, scoring his points with minimum effort. Keeping his actions to only a handful of low kicks, he did enough to win the rounds.
In the third round Jurjendal, who knew he was behind on points, came out swinging. Halfway through that round he sustained an injury on his arm, leaving him unable to use it further. In a desperate attempt the Estonian tried his luck swinging for Jamal’s head. However Ben Saddik managed to capitalize on the defenseless Uku knocking him out with a high kick in the dying seconds of the fight.
Both fighters were scheduled to fight in GLORY's Last Heavyweight Standing tournament on the 5th of April. However with his injury it seems unlikely, Jurjendal will be able to fight Nicolas Wamba, who he drew yesterday morning as opponent, Jamal Ben Saddik will face Romanian Christian Ristea.
CHICO KWASI CRUISES TO VICTORY
In the co-main event of the evening, Chico Kwasi cruised to a victory in his second title defense. The Mike's gym fighter beat the Bulgarian Teodor Hristov by unanimous decision. Hristov, who came into the fight with a fifteen-fight win streak dating back to 2019. However, in his fight with Kwasi he was struggling to bridge the distance with the lanky Kwasi and failed to give the champion any serious problems in the five round bout.
After the fight Chico called out the matchmakers to reschedule him a fight with lightweight champion Tyjani Beztati. The two met in October last year in a champion against champion clash. The battle remained undecided in a draw, leaving both fighters with a sour taste.
MICHAEL BOAPEAH IN LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DEBUT
Michael Boapeah dominated his opponent Ibrahim el Bouni in his debut at light heavyweight. The young Dutch-Ghanian fighter took the centre of the ring from the start, but soon started pinning his opponent into the corner landing heavy punches to the head of El Bouni, rocking him several times.
Any attempt of El Bouni to fight out of the heavy pressure of the "Time Bomb" was met with punishing low and calf kicks which resulted in two knockdowns in the second round. In the third Boapeah was hunting for the finish, which he found eventually by knocking down the Moroccan twice, ending the bout in a TKO by maximum knockdown rule.
In his post-fight interview Michael Boapeah called out "wasteman" Donovan Wisse. The Surinam Middleweight champion was unable to defend his title against Boapeah due to injury, which led to Boapeah making the move up in frustration of a lack of fights.
INJURY FREE, HAMICHA IS BACK
Mohammed Mezaroui, also known by his fighters name Hamicha, gave an extraordinary display of kickboxing against debutant Caliente Mendes. The Dutch-Moroccan fan-favorite has been struggling with an injury for years now and was visibly relieved to be back in the ring again. In the first round Hamicha and Mendes traded bodyshots in entertaining exchanges.
However, it didn’t take long for Hamicha to notice that Mendes wasn’t checking his low kicks—a rookie mistake by the young prospect. Mendes paid the price in the third round, suffering two consecutive knockdowns from low kicks, leading to a TKO victory for the returning Hamicha. Nonetheless, a promising showing for the Spanish fighter.
GLORY 98 RESULTS
Jamal Ben Saddik def. Uku Jurjendal – KO at 2:59 of R3
Chico Kwasi (c) def. Teodor Hristov – Unanimous Decision (50-45 x2, 49-46 x3)
Cem Caceres def. Mory Kromah – Split Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28, 28-29 x2)
Michael Boapeah def. Ibrahim El Bouni – KO at 2:06 of R3
Mesud Selimovic def. Iliass Hammouche – KO at 1:32 of R2
Hamicha def. Calmente Mendes – KO at 0:34 of R3
Andre Santos def. Chris Wunn – Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28 x4)
Mehdi Ait El Hadj def. Robin Ciric – Split Decision (28-27 x2, 29-27, 27-28 x2)
Don Sno def. Ismail Ayaadi – KO at 2:05 of R2
Denis Wosik def. Matthan Choinard – Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28 x3)
Antonio Krajinovic def. Soufiane El Hammouchi – Unanimous Decision (30-27 x4, 29-28)
