The rematch everybody was waiting for delivered for the most part until history repeated itself. Badr Hari challenged Rico Verhoeven for the GLORY heavyweight title at GLORY Collision 2 on Saturday. The pair fought back in December 2016 only for Hari to lose after suffering an arm injury. This time, Hari was focused and looking […]
The rematch everybody was waiting for delivered for the most part until history repeated itself. Badr Hari challenged Rico Verhoeven for the GLORY heavyweight title at GLORY Collision 2 on Saturday.
The pair fought back in December 2016 only for Hari to lose after suffering an arm injury. This time, Hari was focused and looking to end their unfinished business. He certainly had the upper hand as he not only dropped Verhoeven once but twice during the three rounds of action.
Verhoeven — who had previously never been dropped in his GLORY career – was in trouble but as Hari attempted a spinning wheel kick, he fell awkwardly on his ankle. As soon as he didn’t get up, the crowd started to worry.
Badr Hari hurt his ankle somehow during this kick and he's balling on the canvas. He's obviously pissed this happened during this huge fight. #Collision2pic.twitter.com/vIzdL7r4LU
The referee soon started a ten-count and with Hari unable to get back to his feet, Verhoeven was once again awarded the TKO victory in unsatisfying faction.
Hari was devastated as he started shouting and crying as he had to get consoled by his team and Verhoeven.
Hopefully, we get a trilogy fight with a more definitive ending.
Remember how we said the guy who replaced Aleks Emelianenko against Mirko Crop Cop at Legends 2 probably stood a better chance of defeating the Croatian than Emelianenko did? Well consider this the saddest “we told you so” in CagePotato history. And quite possibly the first.
But after watching his fight with Alexey Oleinik at Legend 2 last Friday, we think it’s safe to assume that Mirko has officially entered the “Money Up Front” phase of his MMA career.
Remember how we said the guy who replaced Aleks Emelianenko against Mirko Crop Cop at Legends 2 probably stood a better chance of defeating the Croatian than Emelianenko did? Well consider this the saddest “we told you so” in CagePotato history. And quite possibly the first.
But after watching his fight with Alexey Oleinik at Legend 2 last Friday, we think it’s safe to assume that Mirko has officially entered the “Money Up Front” phase of his MMA career.
Sure, it’s not like Mirko showed up at 300+ pounds or anything, and it’s not like he was fighting a scrub. But a neck crank? A F*CKING NECK CRANK?!
I say this as one of the biggest Cro Cop fans out there: Retire, Mirko. Retire for good and stop breaking my heart.
Elsewhere on the Legend card, UFC castaway Paul Daley saw a four fight win streak snapped via unanimous decision at the hands of Alexander “Bad Boy” Yakovlev, a 20-4 Russian who is now 21-4 (I dunno, that’s all I got). While Daley dominated many of the standup exchanges in typical fashion, his achilles heel of wrestling was once again exposed by Yakovlev, who mixed up some takedowns and decent ground-n-pound attacks to neutralize Daley for the majority of the fight.
In the kickboxing realm, Badr Hari picked up a unanimous decision victory over Alexey Ignashov in a K-1 Superfight that was as sloppy at times as it was enjoyable. Here’s a gif of Ignashov just missing a head kick in what looks like a poorly choreographed, B-movie fight scene (via Zombie Prophet).
And finally in people you’ve heard of who fought at this event, Melvin Manhoef was routed by Zabit Samedov en route to a unanimous decision loss in a 205 lb. K-1 sem-final tournament bout. Unfortunately, Samedov was not able to continue in the tournament due to a cut suffered during the fight and was replaced by Agron Preteni. It just goes to show that Melvin Manhoef’s legs are a threat to every living creature on this earth.
We’ve thrown a full video of the fight below. Enjoy.
(“Of course I’d love to train with you, old pal! And since we’re such good friends now, you wouldn’t mind telling the police that I was at your house from the hours of 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. last night, would you chum?”)
Abraham Lincoln was once infamously quoted as saying, “What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” It’s a quote I could not help but reflect on in the days following Alistair Overeem’s devastating, hype-deflating KO loss to Antonio Silva at UFC 156. To be fair, it was just as much the media’s fault for filling Overeem’s head with premature discussions of his inevitable UFC title reign as it was his own, but in either case, his arrogance was surely on full display in his lackluster performance that night. Thankfully, we learned not to do the same thing with Uriah Hall.
In either case, it appears that the slice of humble pie Overeem was served last February was not taken lightly by the former Strikeforce heavyweight champ, as he recently posted the above photo on his Instagram account showing himself alongside former K1 rival and terrorizer of the Amsterdam nightclub scene, Badr Hari, along with the following caption:
Badr Hari & me at mikes gym after a great training session. The REEM vs Badr III might just happen… In training.
If you recall, Overeem and Hari engaged in a brutal (albeit brief) pair of fights a few years back — first at Dynamite!! 2008, then at the KI World Grand Prix semifinals in 2009 –with each man emerging victorious in one bout by way of (T)KO. You can find videos of both fights here and here.
(“Of course I’d love to train with you, old pal! And since we’re such good friends now, you wouldn’t mind telling the police that I was at your house from the hours of 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. last night, would you chum?”)
Abraham Lincoln was once infamously quoted as saying, “What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” It’s a quote I could not help but reflect on in the days following Alistair Overeem’s devastating, hype-deflating KO loss to Antonio Silva at UFC 156. To be fair, it was just as much the media’s fault for filling Overeem’s head with premature discussions of his inevitable UFC title reign as it was his own, but in either case, his arrogance was surely on full display in his lackluster performance that night. Thankfully, we learned not to do the same thing with Uriah Hall.
In either case, it appears that the slice of humble pie Overeem was served last February was not taken lightly by the former Strikeforce heavyweight champ, as he recently posted the above photo on his Instagram account showing himself alongside former K1 rival and terrorizer of the Amsterdam nightclub scene, Badr Hari, along with the following caption:
Badr Hari & me at mikes gym after a great training session. The REEM vs Badr III might just happen… In training.
If you recall, Overeem and Hari engaged in a brutal (albeit brief) pair of fights a few years back — first at Dynamite!! 2008, then at the KI World Grand Prix semifinals in 2009 –with each man emerging victorious in one bout by way of (T)KO. You can find videos of both fights here and here.
As a longtime fan of Ubereem despite his many faults, I must say that it is honestly refreshing to see him bring in some elite talent to help hone his technique, rather than continue to solely rely on his power like he did against Silva. Not to go down the road of speculation, but I speculate that Hari’s help, along with that of the Blackzilians new wrestling coach, Olympic legend Kenny Monday, will propel Overeem to not only a UFC title, but a series of no less than 12 title defenses and a future position in the UFC, MMA, and Baseball Hall of Fames.
God I’m glad I didn’t blow this development out of proportion.
(Bones’ unorthodox stand-up proved too much for Rashad.)
We’ve all seen street “fights” like the one below when we were younger, where the two combatants spend more time circling and jawing at each other than they do actually settling things the way boys do: by sloppily throwing haymakers until they both gas out.
Apparently in this hood, beef quashing is a community initiative as you can see by the mother screaming encouragement while several adults and kids look on as these two young men nearly get it on. Their stand-up makes Royce Gracie’s look like Badr Hari’s.
(Bones’ unorthodox stand-up proved too much for Rashad.)
We’ve all seen street “fights” like the one below when we were younger, where the two combatants spend more time circling and jawing at each other than they do actually settling things the way boys do: by sloppily throwing haymakers until they both gas out.
Apparently in this hood, beef quashing is a community initiative as you can see by the mother screaming encouragement while several adults and kids look on as these two young men nearly get it on. Their stand-up makes Royce Gracie’s look like Badr Hari’s.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/100kr001)
Seriously. Put your elbows down, boys. No wonder you’re so tired.
The highlight of the brief altercation, besides the mom giving her kid a pep talk in the middle of the fracas, has to be the the other kid telling the crowd that if he didn’t drop his foe with a punch, then they could shoot him. Homie plays for keeps when it comes to street fighting. Where I come from, acting like that would get you put over your mom’s knee in front of everyone. Wait, no. That was an episode of Good Times I saw once.
Filed under: Fighting, NewsBadr Hari closed out his kickboxing career in style, knocking out Gokhan Saki in the first round of his farewell fight during an It’s Showtime event in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Badr Hari closed out his kickboxing career in style, knocking out Gokhan Saki in the first round of his farewell fight during an It’s Showtime event in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Hari knocked Saki down three times in the first en route to the win, with the first coming on an uppercut. He battered him throughout the rest of the round in scoring the stoppage for the 64th knockout of his carer. His career record now stands at 78-11.
The 27-year-old will know turn his attention to the heavyweight boxing scene.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Hari has long been considered one of the top kickboxers in the world, having won the K-1 world heavyweight championship twice.
Saki fell to 75-15 with the loss.
In other action during the event, longtime MMA fighter Melvin Manhoef lost a decision to Tyrone Spong. Spong is one of UFC light-heavyweight contender Rashad Evans’ striking coaches.
Full Results
Hafid el Boustati def. Henri van Opstal via unanimous decision
Andy Ristie def. Hinata Watanabe via KO, Round 1
Sahak Parparyan def. Mourad Bouzidi via majority decision (4-1).
Ben Edwards def. Ricardo van den Bos via unanimous decision.
L’houcine “Aussie” Ouzgni def. Yohan Lidon via unanimous decision.
Tyrone Spong def. Melvin Manhoef via unanimous decision.
Anderson “Braddock” Silva def. Michael Duut via unanimous decision.
Harut Grigorian def. Chris Ngimbi via TKO (cut) in Rd. 2. Errol Zimmerman def. Rico Verhoeven via KO, Round 1.
Robin van Roosmalen def. Murat Direkci via majority decision (4-1).
Daniel Ghita def. Hesdy Gerges via KO, Rd. 1
Badr Hari def. Gokhan Saki via KO, Rd. 1
“The Golden Boy” is candid and honest about his issues with anger inside and outside of the ring in the short doc that aired last week on Dutch TV. I don’t know what makes a crazy, out of control person who stomps on downed opponents and knocks people who piss him off out in the street so polarizing, but it’s stories like these that I’d read about or watch any day of the week.
If you’re like me and the show left you wanting to hear more from Hari about himself, you’re in luck. Michael Schiavello announced during the HDNet broadcast of last weekend’s Titan Fighting event that he recently sat down with the beleagured Dutch-born Morroccan fighter to shoot an episode of his acclaimed “The Voice vs.” series and that it was the most intense interview he’s ever done. The Voice vs. Badr Hari will air June 24 at 10 pm ET on HDNet.
Check out parts 2 and 3 of the documentary after the jump.
“The Golden Boy” is candid and honest about his issues with anger inside and outside of the ring in the short doc that aired last week on Dutch TV. I don’t know what makes a crazy, out of control person who stomps on downed opponents and knocks people who piss him off out in the street so polarizing, but it’s stories like these that I’d read about or watch any day of the week.
If you’re like me and the show left you wanting to hear more from Hari about himself, you’re in luck. Michael Schiavello announced during the HDNet broadcast of last weekend’s Titan Fighting event that he recently sat down with the beleagured Dutch-born Morroccan fighter to shoot an episode of his acclaimed “The Voice vs.” series and that it was the most intense interview he’s ever done. The Voice vs. Badr Hari will air June 24 at 10 pm ET on HDNet.
#GLORY #Collision2 #UnfinishedBusiness pic.twitter.com/hqyFiGfKAf
Badr Hari