Rico vs Badr 2 headlines GLORY Collision II at GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands on December 21 (Dec. 22 AEST). The event features the defending heavyweight kickboxing champion up against K-1 legend. The pair meets in a highly anticipated rematch.

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Here is five simple reasons to watch Rico vs Badr 2.

It’s Badr Hari It’s Rico Verhoeven World-class heavyweight bout Title fight Fight card

Badr Hari

In kickboxing world Moroccan-Dutch Badr Hari (106-13, 92 KO) is the man who needs no introduction. The 34-year-old competitor is arguably the last active fighter from the athlete roster of the heyday of the original K-1 in Japan. “Bad Boy or Golden Boy”, whichever you like, had his ups and downs inside and outside the ring. Yet, it is arguably thanks to his internationally known name thousands will tune it to watch the fight.

Furthermore, like it or not, Hari challenges for the title.

Rico Verhoeven

Dutch Rico Verhoeven (55-10, 16 KO) represents a new generation of kickboxing “made in Holland”. The 30-year-old champion is unbeaten in almost four years, scoring the wins against all top heavyweights of the current era.

Unfortunately today kickboxing hardly appears on international TV networks. As a result, it is indeed hard for Verhoeven to establish his name globally. Nevertheless he is certainly a star in Holland.

World-class

Rico Verhoeven vs Badr Hari is, hands down, a world-class kickboxing matchup. There are dozens of top fights in the lighter divisions in various organizations, yet GLORY seems to have collected all of the prominent heavyweights of today. This leads to the next fight of either men, since their second encounter is a championship bout.

Title fight

Rico Verhoeven is a reigning champion in the division, who is riding the eleven-fight win streak. Badr Hari got his title shot, regardless being inactive since November 2018. Moreover, his previous bout (that he initially won by unanimous decision against Hesdy Gerges) was later ruled “No Contest” due to failed drug test.

The Badr vs. Rico 2 fight was first set as a five-round non-title encounter. Mid November the promotion announced that Verhoeven puts his title on the line due to a high demand from fans.

Whether Hari deserves a title shot regarding the timeline and all, is indeed a question. He has, however, scored five straight victories prior facing Verhoeven in their first outing.

Nevertheless, the title makes sense in terms of what happens next. If Rico wins, he may look for revenge against a newly-signed Belarusian Andrey Gerasimchuk, who won their 2015 bout by unanimous decision. If Badr wins, there might be an immediate rematch, the trilogy fight with Rico.

Fight card

In addition to the Rico vs Badr 2 fight, the second edition of Collision features the reigning middleweight kickboxing champion Alex Pereira (31-6, 20 KO), who makes the fifth defense of his title against challenger Ertugrul Bayrak (18-6, 5 KO). The rest of the fight card, billed as GLORY 74 Arnhem, is expected to see a number of top ranked athletes in various weight classes.

How to watch Rico vs Badr 2

The promotion is yet to announce the broadcast of the event. The finalized GLORY 74 fight card and event schedule is expected to be set shortly.

Are you going to watch Rico vs Badr 2? You can leave your comment below.