The fight ended in a technical knockout, after Rico knocked Silva down with a head kick 43 seconds into the second round. Verhoeven vs. Ben Saddik Verhoeven fought Jamal Ben Saddik in defense of Glory heavyweight title, on 9 December 2017. In a fight that has been called the biggest fight in kickboxing history due to the size of the contestants, with Jamal being 6' 9", 280 lbs and Rico himself at 6' 5", 260 lbs. Jamal defeated a young Rico in their first meeting in 2011, but since then has had a record of 11 wins to 6 losses, while Rico climbed the P4P rankings and established himself as a kickboxing world champion. Ben Saddik found success early on in the fight, before Verhoeven took over as the fight went on, winning by a fifth-round TKO. Verhoeven was again scheduled to defend his title at Glory 54: Birmingham, in a rematch with Mladen Brestovac. Verhoeven had won five straight fights since their first meeting, while Brestovac came into the fight on a three fight winning streak. The champion stuck to his patented outfighting, damaging the challenger with low kicks and front kicks from distance early, and unleashing hand combinations later in the fight. Verhoeven won a comfortable unanimous decision with 50–45 on all five scorecards. He was scheduled to defend his title for a record setting eighth time at Glory 59: Amsterdam, when he faced the WGP Heavyweight champion Guto Inocente. Inocente would use several illegal moves during the fight, such as a foot sweep and a judo throw, however, Verhoeven would again dominate the bout, winning all five rounds on each of the judges scorecards. Verhoeven vs. Hari II For his ninth title defense, Verhoeven was set to fight a rematch with Badr Hari at Glory 74: Arnhem. Since their first fight, Hari had served a prison sentence, and had only fought once in the meantime, he won against Hesdy Gerges by unanimous decision but later turned into a no-contest. The fight itself took place in the sold out GelreDome, in front of 30 000 fans. Verhoeven began the fight in an uncharacteristically aggressive fashion, and was knocked down at the 1:40 minute mark of the first round. He found more success in the second round, but was once again knocked down with a head kick in the third round. The fight ended in the third round, with