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Check out the best photos from Alistair Overeem vs. Badr Hari 3 at Glory Collision 4.
[autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] broke a tie Saturday at GelreDome Amhem, Netherlands when he defeated [autotag]Badr Hari[/autotag] in a kickboxing trilogy match at Glory Collision 4. Check out the best photos from the event below (courtesy of Glory).
At Glory Collision 4, former UFC and MMA standout Alistair Overeem broke a 13-year-old tie against Badr Hari in his return to kickboxing.
A 13-year-old tie has been broken and the rubber match went to [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag].
Saturday at Glory Collision 4, Overeem (11-4) made a triumphant return to kickboxing after 12 years in MMA when he defeated rival [autotag]Badr Hari[/autotag] (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:
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Things were tame but intense when Alistair Overeem and Badr Hari faced off ahead of their highly anticipated trilogy.
Things were tame but intense when [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] and [autotag]Badr Hari[/autotag] faced off ahead of their highly anticipated kickboxing trilogy.
With their series tied at one, Overeem takes on Hari on Oct. 8 at GLORY Collision 4 from GelreDome Stadium in Arnhem, Netherlands. The pair will meet in a rubber match 13 years later after Overeem knocked out Hari in their first meeting in 2008 and Hari exacting his revenge one year later with a first-round knockout of his own.
Check out their first faceoff, which took place after Tuesday’s Glory Collision 4 press conference:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfWJe-oopIZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Watch the full pre-fight press conference in the video below.
Alistair Overeem will return to the kickboxing ring against a former rival.
[autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] will return to the kickboxing ring against a former rival.
Overeem faces [autotag]Badr Hari[/autotag] on October 8 at GLORY Collision 4 from GelreDome Stadium in Arnhem, Netherlands, promotion officials announced Wednesday.
🚨 BREAKING: Badr Hari welcomes Alistair Overeem to the GLORY ring for their monumental rubber match at #COLLISION4 on October 8. pic.twitter.com/lxlFwAXrf4
— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) May 25, 2022
Overeem will tangle with Hari for a third time 13 years later. The pair met twice in 2008 and 2009, with Overeem knocking out Hari in their first meeting and Hari exacting his revenge one year later with a first-round knockout of his own.
Overeem, who parted ways with the UFC in 2021, signed with GLORY Kickboxing last June. The former K-1 world grand prix champion was scheduled to challenge heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven at GLORY Collision 3 on Oct. 23 but withdrew due to injury.
Hari hasn’t won a bout since 2015. The former K-1 heavyweight champion took reigning champion Verhoeven to the brink twice but wound up suffering injuries in both bouts, which resulted in TKO wins for Verhoeven. He also suffered stoppage losses to Benjamin Adegbuyi, and most recently Arkadiusz Wrzosek this past September, a bout he was winning before he got clipped with a head kick.
Before Overeem returns to kickboxing, he will make his pro wrestling debut June 4 against former WWE star Braun Strowman.
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Arek Wrzosek mounted one of the greatest comebacks in Glory history when he rallied to knock the legendary Badr Hari out.
[autotag]Badr Hari[/autotag]’s string of bad luck continues.
Hari, widely regarded as one of the greatest kickboxers of all time, was off to his usual explosive start when he faced [autotag]Arek Wrzosek[/autotag] in the main event of Glory 78 on Saturday.
The Moroccan unleashed brutal shots to the body of Wrzosek, knocking him down three times in the first round. With Wrzosek in danger of having the fight stopped, he whipped up a Hail Mary left high kick to knock Hari out in what is being dubbed as the greatest comeback in the history of Glory.
— Streetfight Banned-cho (@streetfitebncho) September 4, 2021
The loss marked the former K-1 heavyweight champion’s third straight. He was on the brink of dethroning reigning champion Rico Verhoeven in their 2019 rematch before getting injured.
So what’s next for the kickboxing legend? Well at 36, who knows how much time he has left. But one thing’s for sure, Hari can absolutely still compete with the best, but just can’t seem to catch a break. Perhaps if Verhoeven gets past Alistair Overeem on Oct. 23, Hari can try to close out his trilogy with Overeem in what would certainly be a big fight.
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