Fans of Mohamed 'Hamicha' Mezouari have spent quite a bit of time waiting for the Moroccan power puncher to make his return to professional competition. They'll spend some more time waiting, as the Amsterdam native has withdrawn from the contest on May 27 for undisclosed reasons. One would hope it isn't another injury – Hamicha has spent the better part of the past two years either injured or recovering from an injury.
A Heavyweight bout between former two-weight Enfusion champion Luis Tavares and GLORY returnee Bahram Rajabzadeh has been scheduled for the event instead, with both fighters stepping in on two week's notice, which might explain why the Light Heavyweight Rajabzadeh moved up a division.
The Azeri will make his first GLORY appearance since suffering a decision loss to Sergej Maslobojev at GLORY 69. In the four years since, Rajabzadeh has won all four fights he's had by stoppage and has captured a bronze at the 2022 WAKO European amateur kickboxing championships and a gold at the 2022 World Games, although he hasn't fought since July of last year.
Tavares will come in following equally long layoff, with zero fights to his name since the stoppage of Florent Kaouachi in May, after which he tested positive for a performance enhancing drug. The former second best Light Heavyweight kickboxer in the world has since moved up to Heavyweight and will see this fight as an opportunity to earn a place in the December GLORY Grand Prix.
