Ben Saddik tells Verhoeven: “I'm coming for you”

Jamal Ben Saddik and Rico Verhoeven appear to be set on collision course following Ben Saddik's win over Guto Inocente at GLORY 39 BRUSSELS.

Ben Saddik snapped Inocente's unbeaten four-fight run with a unanimous decision over three rounds in the co-headline fight.

“I controlled it the whole time. It was nine minutes, which is a long time, but it was a good fight for me. He has a weird style but it didn't work on me, it was an easy fight,” he says.

“What's next? You know what's next, I am coming for that belt man. I waited too long for this, I waited too long for this moment. I beat [Rico] once before, he is nothing special man. I beat him once before so, who is he [to me]?”

Ben Saddik does indeed hold a win over Verhoeven, a second-round TKO from a 2011 encounter. Verhoeven was ringside in Brussels and entered the ring to confront Ben Saddik after hearing himself being called out in Ben Saddik's post-fight interview.

The two went nose-to-nose and engaged in some back and forth; they were too close for microphones to catch what they were saying to each other, but Ben Saddik has revealed the content of their conversation.

“I told him that I am coming for him and he knows that. I told him that I am coming for him, his whole family, I am coming for his team, I am coming for everything. I train every day for this.

“He said Badr [Hari couldn't do it at COLLISION] - I am not Badr man! Badr is who he is, all respect, but I am not Badr!”

Of course, the Verhoeven of today is a very different beast to the Verhoeven of 2011. He has dominated the heavyweight division since winning the belt at GLORY 17 and has looked unassailable in his position on the throne.

“A fight is a fight and every fight is like a new one. So if [the] Rico [fight] comes we have all [kinds of] plans for him, so it's good... I think it's going to be in a few months.”