Bouzidi: "I want a title shot if I beat Duut in Amsterdam"

Mourad ‘The Silent Power’ Bouzidi (78-22-2,34 KO’s) is a man on a mission.

The veteran kickboxer is riding a 3-0 win streak in the light-heavyweight division and is matched with fellow Dutch light-heavyweight Michael Duut (38-6, 17 KO’s) at GLORY 26 AMSTERDAM. If he wins, he wants a title shot.

“I have a lot of motivation around this fight, I am planning to really kick his ass in Amsterdam just to really send a message: I want my title shot,” he says.

“He is a good fighter, a dangerous opponent, you can see how he knocked Tyrone Spong down [in the GLORY 9 NEW YORK light-heavyweight contender tournament] and nearly knocked him out in the first round.

“Spong also had difficulties with Verlinden. Based on that fight I thought Verlinden would be more of a problem for me in my last fight [at GLORY 22 FRANCE in June], but really he wasn’t. So I am feeling confident. I thought with three wins in a row I would have the title shot already but instead they gave me Duut. So I will beat him in Amsterdam and then I have four wins in a row, surely they must give me a title shot?"

Bouzidi’s only losses at light-heavyweight have been to current champion Saulo Cavalari and former #1 Danyo Ilunga. Having at one point occupied the #3 slot in the rankings, he is looking to cement himself as a top-tier fighter in the division.

Amsterdam is the perfect place for him to do so. The city is considered the spiritual home of kickboxing, or at least the Dutch style of kickboxing which has become famous around the world, and the RAI Arena venue will be packed on fight night.

“Fighting in Amsterdam is amazing man!” says Bouzidi.

“I fought there before at the arena and the atmosphere is just crazy. Everybody is looking forward to the fights so much, everybody from my gym is coming, all my students, there is a big buzz and I think the venue will be full. I think it will be a sell-out for sure.”

GLORY 26 AMSTERDAM takes place Friday, December 4 in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is headlined by two world title fights.

Rico Verhoeven defends his world heavyweight championship against Benjamin Adegbuyi in the main event while in the co-main Nieky Holzken will defend his welterweight title against the winner of next months’s Welterweight Contender Tournament at GLORY 25 MILAN.

GLORY 25 MILAN takes place Friday November 6 at the Palaiper in Monza, Milan, Italy and is headlined by a world lightweight championship fight between Robin van Roosmalen and rising Thai sta Sitthichai, winner of the recent Lightweight Contender Tournament.