Verhoeven wins four-man tournament (closed) | NOW

Past! Tarik Khbabez retires after the first round. He seems to be having trouble with his right hand and stops. Verhoeven always speaks uplifting words, but to no avail. Verhoeven wins. What an anti-climax.

1/3 On the ground! Tarik Khbabez receives a few hard kicks on his legs and falls twice. The Moroccan seems already out of breath in the first round. It can end quickly.

1/3 Rico Verhoeven is the man who delivers the first punches, but Tarik Khbabez recovers and hits the body of the Moroccan-born kickboxer hard several times.

Thing! The bell has rung in Rotterdam. Rico Verhoeven has started his last fight against Tarik Khbabez. Who will emerge victorious from this battle?

5/5 Alex Pereira is clearly at the end of his rope, but Artem Vakhitov is unable to knock out the Brazilian. And so the jury has to choose a winner after five rounds. Who is raising their hand?

4/5 For the first time in the fight, Artem Vakhitov seems to be taking an advantage. The Russian delivers a number of nice punches to Alex Pereira’s cheeks after the Brazilian still has a nice move with a knee to the face.

3/5 Fatigue is slowly starting to set in for Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira, as kickboxing is no longer a problem. Fighters dance across the ring without really hitting each other hard. Caution is essential.

2/5 We can clearly see that this is a battle for a world title, as the fight between Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira is not yet really going to ignite. Both kickboxers work very carefully.

1/5 The first round is over and it clearly goes to Brazilian Alex Pereira, who controls Artem Vakhitov’s fight for the world light heavyweight title.

Thing! The light heavyweight world title fight between Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira is on! Is Pereira making GLORY history by becoming the world light heavyweight champion in addition to the world middleweight title?

The matadors of the light heavyweight title battle enter the ring. The fight between Russian Artem Vakhitov and Brazilian Alex Pereira is about to begin.

Of course, we have to wait for Verhoeven against Khbabez, but first we see the light heavyweight title battle. This fight starts in a few minutes and takes place between Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira.

Doumbé KOs Groenhart! The painful fall seems to be playing tricks on Groenhart. Doumbé hits the Dutchman very hard again and although Groenhart gets up at 9, the referee decides that is enough.

Doubled with the first reversal of the holiday! He is knocked to the ground, but can get up in time. Moments later, Groenhart tries to strike again, but he crosses the rope and painfully hits the billboards with his back.

End of turn 1/5 The same goes for the first round, in which Groenhart and Doumbé argue.

Start! The two have both won once against the other, who is stronger this time in five rounds?

The jury members were not unanimous on this subject, but it will be Tarik Khbabez who can face Verhoeven. Later tonight he will meet an opponent who is likely a bit cooler, as the Brabant player didn’t have to go that far against Gerges.

End of round 3/3 Both fighters took a few hits but kept coming back and that made for a fantastic fight. Who will face Rico Verhoeven in the final?

End of turn 2/3 He also made waves in Ahoy in the second round. Most of the punches came from Khbabez, who also hit Rigters once in the face with his knee.

End of turn 1/3 Rigters and Khbabez did not disappoint in the first round. Rigters came out of the starting blocks the best, but Khbabez held up well and fought back.

Who will face Verhoeven in the final? It could be Levi Rigters, 25, or Tarik Khbabez, 28. Rigters made his GLORY debut last month and is considered one of kickboxing’s greatest talents. Khababez, 28, is also a newcomer to the GLORY circuit. Khbabez, who lives in The Hague, came from the ONE Championship union at the end of last year, which is mainly important in Asia.

The two have often argued, but immediately after the fight, respect for each other emerges. “I always thought you were a cool guy and that you were just the best,” Gerges says. Verhoeven replies: “Respect is mutual, you are back to normal today and I think it’s really great.”

Indeed, the jury also decides that Rico Verhoeven is the winner of the fight.

End of round 3/3 Verhoeven remains dominant throughout the bout and will most likely go to the final battle against the winner of the Levi Rigters vs. Tarik Khbabez bout.

3/3 Gerges is less forced into the corner in this third round, but Rico still decides the game.

3/3 “Now it’s all or nothing,” Ahoy rings in the void. Will we see that also on this last round?

End of turn 2/3 Verhoeven also pushes Gerges further and further into the corner in the second round and barely gives him a chance to hit him. There are few fireworks displays, but Verhoeven is the dominant one.

2/3 Verhoeven has a nice low kick and he surprises his opponent with it. Gerges falls, but gets up almost immediately to react.

End of turn 1/3 The two men respect each other at the end of the first round with a boxing. During the fight, it’s not really loose yet, as it looked a lot like a game of chess in the ring.