Jamal Ben Saddik returned to the ring on February 22, facing Uku Jurjendal in the main event of Glory 98 at RTM Stage in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Belgian-Moroccan heavyweight secured a victory over his Estonian opponent by knockout.
After two fairly slow rounds, Ben Saddik landed a right kick to the head, dropping Jurjendal to the canvas. The official time was 2:59 into the third round. Prior to the final blow, Jurjendal appeared to have injured his left forearm, which hung limply, leaving him unable to defend himself.
With the win, Ben Saddik, who stepped through the ropes for the first time in two and a half years, improved to 37-9, with 30 KOs. This was his first fight since knocking out Benjamin Adegbuyi in August 2022, a bout that was later overturned to a no-contest after he failed a drug test.
34-year-old Ben Saddik is now expected to face Cristian Ristea from Romania at Glory 99 on April 5. The event, also taking place in Rotterdam, serves as the opening round of the 2025 Heavyweight Last Man Standing Tournament.
Uku Jurjendal dropped to 20-10, with 16 KOs. The defeat marked his second consecutive loss, after being knocked out in the second round by Levi Rigters last March.
In other Glory 98 fights
In the co-main event, Dutch-Surinamese Chico Kwasi (44-5-1, 23 KOs) retained his welterweight title by unanimous decision against Teodor Hristov (18-4, 7 KOs) from Bulgaria. After five rounds, the scores were 50-45, 50-45, 49-46, 49-46, and 49-46.
Among other Glory 98 results, Cem Caceres (19-1, 14 KOs) of Türkiye took a split decision over Mory Kromah (31-3-1, 18 KOs) of the Netherlands at light heavyweight, with the scores 29-28, 29-28, 28-29, 30-27, and 30-27. Ghanaian-Dutch Michael Boapeah (20-4-1, 8 KOs) made a successful debut at light heavyweight, dropping and stopping Dutch-Moroccan Ibrahim El Bouni (42-11-1, 22 KOs) in the third round.
Bosnian Mesud Selimovic (33-12, 18 KOs) scored a second-round TKO of Morocco’s Iliass Hammouche (34-8, 7 KOs) with a spinning back fist at middleweight. On his way to victory, Selimovic was dropped twice in the first and second rounds.
Moroccan-Dutch welterweight Mohamed Mezouari, aka “Hamicha” (42-2, 31 KOs), stopped Spain’s Calmente Mendes (7-1, 4 KOs) in the third round with leg kicks. Kicking off the main card, Andre Santos (23-2, 10 KOs) of Portugal scored a unanimous decision over Chris Wunn (35-7-1, 14 KOs) of Germany at featherweight.
Atop the prelims, Morocco’s Mehdi Ait El Hadj (35-4-2, 8 KOs) took a split decision over Dutch Robin Ciric (23-9, 7 KOs) at welterweight.