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Verhoeven, Hari Set for Kickboxing Mega Fight in December

Reigning Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven apparently has turned back the clock to the glory days when boxing was one of the most important sports in America and when the great champions fought more than once or twice a year.

Glory, the world’s premier kickboxing promotion, announced on Tuesday that Verhoeven will headline a huge year-end event called Glory: Collision in December. To sweeten the pot, Glory has inked one of the best heavyweights to ever lace up the gloves in kickboxing: Badr Hari.

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Hari captured the K-1 and It’s Showtime heavyweight titles and was a two-time runner-up for the K-1 World Grand Prix title. The Dutch fighter has taken on a literal who’s who of the sport and is now expecting to take over Glory. Hari (106-12, 94 KOs) holds wins over such legends as Peter Aerts, Glaube Feitosa, Peter Graham, Ruslan Karaev, Stefan Leko, Alistair Overeem, Gokhan Saki, Semmy Schilt and Ray Sefo and when asked about Verhoeven, he scoffed at the matchup.

“Who? Rico? When he was fighting with shin protection and headgear, I was already a household name in Japan, where the real men were fighting,” stated Hari. “He might be king in the land of the blind, but I have 20/20 vision.”

Verhoeven (48-10-1, 12 KOs) captured his title two years ago by edging Daniel Ghita and has defended in dominant fashion four straight times, with his most recent triumph coming via unanimous decision over Mladen Brestovac at Glory 28: Paris. He’s already built a solid resume of his own, nabbing huge wins over the likes of Benjamin Adegbuyi (twice), Aerts, Hesdy Gerges (twice), Ghita (twice), Sergei Kharitonov, Gokhan Saki, and Errol Zimmerman (twice). He said he’s ready to take that next big step toward all-time greatness.

“This will be the biggest fight in kickboxing history,” said Verhoeven. “(Hari) is an excellent fighter, but it's my time. I am the champ. It's my era.”

Glory CEO Jon Franklin couldn’t hide his excitement for being able to create such a huge matchup for the still-fledgling sport in America.

“Once the idea of Badr Hari competing for Glory became a real possibility, our social media pages exploded with interest,” Franklin said. “Now that it's official, the feedback has been non-stop. This is the fight the fans demanded, this is the fight that both Rico Verhoeven and Badr Hari wanted, and this is the fight that we are delighted to say is finally happening.”

The exact date, city and venue will be announced shortly, as will the full main card and SuperFight Series undercard details. UFC Fight Pass and ESPN3 will likely stream the action live, but the precise broadcast details have to still be ironed out.

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