It's official. GLORY Heavyweight and former two-time title challenger Jamal Ben Saddik has been suspended. After scoring a vicious knockout against Benjamin Adegbuyi at GLORY 81 in August of last year, the fighter has tested positive for a banned substance.
As a result, the #2 ranked GLORY fighter has been removed from the rankings, and his win has been overturned into a no-contest.
Not the first time for the Moroccan-Belgian fighter either, as he tested positive after his win against Anderson Silva in 2015.
The fighter made headlines recently, complaining about the lack of fights the promotion is offering him and threatened to retire as a result of it.
GLORY co-founder Scott Rudmann got in contact with us, clarifying: "Jamal Ben Saddik has been suspended since August 20 for a violation of the GLORY rules. There is an internal panel judging his situation and a ruling is expected by January 20. Any claims that GLORY was not offering him fights are false."
The fighter will be on the sidelines for 15 months. Longer than both Luis Tavares and Cihad Kepenek, who have been hit with 10-month and 12-month suspensions respectively, which makes sense considering this is Saddik's second violation.
The GLORY Heavyweight division has suffered heavy hits in the last few months and is in a concerning state of limbo. Reigning champion Rico Verhoeven has become less and less active, and is currently out nursing an injury. Badr Hari might retire and Alistair Overeem has also tested positive, but has yet to be officially suspended. "Alistair Overeem as widely reported has been caught violating the GLORY anti-doping rules. He is in the process of having his situation judged and decided by the combination of the Dutch Anti-Doping Authority and GLORY", Rudmann wrote about the former UFC star.
One can hope that this isn't the last we've seen of 'The Goliath'. The 32-year-old brought a huge fanbase to his fights, and delivered some of the most thrilling moments in his trilogy against Rico Verhoeven.
