During the semi-finals of GLORY Kickboxing’s Heavyweight Grand Prix on March 9th, a dramatic altercation unfolded between Rico Verhoeven and Nabil Khachab.
The match took an unexpected turn after the final bell. Jamal Ben Saddik was present in Khachab’s corner and confronted Verhoeven.
The confrontation began as a verbal dispute but quickly escalated when Saddik attempted to kick Verhoeven. Although the kick did not connect, it ignited immediate tension.
Rico ended up pursuing Jamal after that. Before any blows were actually delivered, officials and security personnel were already stationed in the ring and promptly kept the two apart. Khachab was involved as well, attempting to bring about peace.
Once calm was restored, Verhoeven addressed the audience. He ended up condemning Saddik’s actions. Verhoeven stated: “You saw what happened here. ou saw Jamal, made the kick. Like f**k. We got to f**king ban this guy from kickboxing. This behavior is unbelievable for the kickboxing ring. Unbelievable and unacceptable.”
Although Verhoeven’s call for a lifetime ban was not heeded, the incident did not go unpunished.
GLORY Kickboxing conducted a thorough investigation into the incident. The findings revealed that Saddik’s actions had the potential to incite violence and endanger participants, spectators, and officials. Consequently, GLORY imposed a six-month suspension on Saddik.
GLORY issued a formal statement regarding the suspension:
“GLORY has concluded its investigation of the in-ring incident following the semi-final match during the GLORY Heavyweight Grand Prix on 9 March 2024. As a result, GLORY has imposed a 6-month suspension on Jamal Ben Saddik for his actions which ran the risk of inciting violence and could have caused harm to participants, fans and officials…”
This six-month suspension is not Saddik’s first run-in with disciplinary actions. In August 2022, Saddik tested positive for a doping violation after defeating Benjamin Adegbuyi. It resulted in a 15-month suspension. Also, in 2015, Saddik faced a one-year suspension and a fine for failing a PED test ahead of Glory 23: Las Vegas.
