A. Overeem is out of the fight against R. Verhoeven at GLORY (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)
The long-awaited duel between Rico Verhoeven and alistair overeem for the GLORY heavyweight belt is canceled due to an as-yet-unknown injury to Overeem. The two would face each other in the main fight of GLORY: “Collision 3”, scheduled for October 23, in Arnhem, the Netherlands.
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Through a social media post, alistair overeem regretted what happened and spoke about the decision to abandon the fight.
“I have never walked away from a fight before and trust me, this decision was difficult to make. I have been dealing with the injury for over a month. Two days before the press conference a few weeks ago, I couldn't even walk straight. After some treatment, I felt much better. Having never been a quitter, I wasn't going to give up now. I went back to training, but the injury got worse again and I couldn't even complete a training session. Yesterday, I, my coaches and my medical team made the decision to abandon the fight”, said Overeem.
At 41, alistair overeem left the UFC after being knocked out by Alexander Volkov at the beginning of the year. The injury that took him out of the duel against Verhoeven has not yet been disclosed, but the tendency is for him to only return to the ring in mid-2022.
“On October 23rd, I was supposed to give a show to the fans! I wanted to make sure everyone in the arena and everyone at home watching got what they were expecting, a fun, high-level fight. If I was 90% or even 80%, I would enter the ring. But I'm at 40% and it's not enough. We train hard, we work hard. There is a lot at stake. Our sport can hurt, not only in the ring, but unfortunately also in preparation. I hope I have a little understanding from you”, concluded the Dutchman.
GLORY representatives have not yet announced whether Rico Verhoeven will have a new opponent or will also leave the October 23rd card.
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