Former UFC fighter Alistair Overeem picked up a win in his return to kickboxing, defeating Badr Hari in the long-awaited trilogy fight between the two.
A late attack from Overeem allowed him to score a unanimous decision win against Hari. Their bout headlined GLORY Collision 4, which took place Saturday from the GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands.
While Overeem struggled early in his sloppy three-round battle against Hari, late momentum allowed him to take the fight on scorecards.
Overeem notably scored a pair of knockdowns in the third round. The first came from a combinations of punches that concluded with a left hook. Shortly after, he connected with an overhand right that brought Hari to the canvas once again.
Overeem struggled to get going in prior rounds. He rushed toward Hari during these frames, but failed to let off shots that hurt Hari in these exchanges. And while he was never knocked down, Overeem did get visibly rocked by punches numerous times during these rounds.
Overeem, 42, is now ahead of Hari in his multi-decade rivalry between them. Their first meeting dates back to 2008, when Overeem beat Hari via decision on a K-1 Dynamite card. A year later, Hari avenged that defeat with a first-round finish against him.
Saturday marked Overeem’s first kickboxing appearance since 2010. He has spent recent years focused on his MMA career, including a 20-fight UFC run that went from 2011 to 2021. His signing with GLORY first came in June 2021, just months after his final UFC bout.
GLORY Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven had an encounter in the ring with Overeem after his victory, potentially setting up a fight between them in the future. A fight between the two was first schedyle to happen in 2021, although it ended up not coming to fruition.
Hari also addressed the crowd following the fight, saying that his kickboxing career may have come to an end.
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