A 13-year-old tie has been broken and the rubber match went to Alistair Overeem.
Saturday at Glory Collision 4, Overeem (11-4) made a triumphant return to kickboxing after 12 years in MMA when he defeated rival Badr Hari (106-17) in their third career meeting.
After two competitive rounds, Overeem exploded to knock down Hari twice in Round 3. He won a unanimous decision (29-26, 28-27, 28-27, 28-27, 28-27) at GelreDome in Amhem, Netherlands.
Both men came out aggressively. Hari utilized a more traditional stance, while Overeem was a bit unorthodox with his movement and striking angles – perhaps a bit more of an MMA approach. Hari hurt Overeem with a hard punch. Despite the thud, Overeem continued his awkward forward-heavy movement.
The second round was leg-kick heavy. More of the body kicks and high kicks came from Hari. The biggest strike of the fight up to that moment was a wicked uppercut inside by Overeem. He faked a hook and went from six o’clock to 12 o’clock instead. Hari nearly went down and while his glove may have touched, the referee did not rule it a knockdown.
As the third round progressed, Hari tired. Overeem unloaded a violent combination that floored Hari. After the count was delayed, apparently while the referee watched Overeem go to the corner, Hari rose to his feet just in time for the standing eight-count. He promptly was sat down again by Overeem. On the mat, Hari looked to his corner and asked how much time was left.
He used all of the time possible, but made it up for the eight-count. With 40 seconds left on the clock, Hari dodged Overeem strikes and landed a short punch of his own. The blow appeared to halt Overeem, at least momentarily. The two fighters traded blows for the remainder of the round.
overeem drops badr twice in round 3 #COLLISION4 pic.twitter.com/Vp84VfvL8P
— jake (@jakeshreds420) October 8, 2022
Unknown if a fourth-round tiebreaker was coming down the pipe, corners scrambled to cool off their fighters at the sound of the final bell. It wasn’t necessary, though. The judges were not undecided and Overeem was the victor.
After the fight, Overeem called himself “the Glory champion,” which caught the attention of heavyweight titleholder Rico Verhoeven, who was on commentary. Verhoeven entered the ring to confront Overeem, who exaggeratedly “quaked” at his presence.
Their verbal spat was quickly interrupted by Hari, who took the microphone and announced to the crowd the fight likely was his last.
Rico Verhoeven against Alistair Overeem?!#COLLISION4 pic.twitter.com/IdTct5WsGc
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) October 8, 2022
The full Glory Collision 4 results include:
- Alistair Overeem def. Badr Hari via unanimous decision (29-26, 28-27, 28-27, 28-27, 28-27
- Tiffany van Soest vs. Sarah Moussaddak via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47, 48-47, 49-46) – to retain super bantamweight title
- Sergej Maslobojev def. Tarik Khbabez via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 46-49, 48-47, 48-47) – to win vacant light heavyweight title
- Tyjani Beztati def. Stoyan Koprivlenski via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46, 49-46, 48-47) – to retain lightweight title
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo def. Abraham Vidales via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – to retain featherweight title
- Levi Rigters def. Kevin Tariq Osaro via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Cesar Almeida def. Serkan Ozcaglayan via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
- Donegi Abena def. Felipe Micheletti via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Sergej Braun def. Michael Boapeah via majority decision (28-28, 28-28, 29-27, 29-27, 30-26)
