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Holzken
James Law/GLORY Sports International

For the first time in a very long time a GLORY welterweight title fight will be taking place without Nieky Holzken. The former champion, who lost his title to Cedric Doumbe at GLORY: COLLISION this past December–and is now ranked No.2 in the division–will have to sit back and watch the GLORY 39 main event on Saturday between Doumbe and No.1-ranked challenger, Yoann Kongolo. 

Holzken, 33, recently re-signed with GLORY for a four-fight deal and is now 12-1 fighting for the promotion. He is hopeful that Doumbe comes out on top in Brussels, Belgium, so he can get back in the ring with the man who took the belt from him.

“I hope that Doumbe wins so we can do the fight over,” Holzken told MMA Plus. I’m feeling like I am still the champ. Honestly, I don’t think Doumbe deserved the win over me with the way he fights. If you want to win from the champ, you have to fight. And with the GLORY rules, I was the pressure fighter, ring dominator and I gave the most powerful shots. He had some good moments with uppercuts and some good low kicks, but not hard. I had my moments with knees, a spinning-back fist and the jabs, but, the jury (judges) decides. But, I will be back!

“I want to face him ASAP and fight him when I’m 100 percent and have a good preparation instead of four weeks from Murthel Groenhart,” he continued, referencing the short turnaround he had between GLORY 34 and GLORY: COLLISION. “But that’s my own fault and I [will] learn from it and I should not complain about it. It is how it is.”

The former champion has already stated he will be on the upcoming GLORY 41 card on May 20 in Den Bosch, Netherlands, and said he thinks that will happen, but nothing has been formally announced by the kickboxing promotion.

As for his new contract, “The Natural” mentioned he is quite pleased to have re-signed with GLORY.

“GLORY is a nice platform and with negotiating I noticed that they don’t want me to leave them,” he said. “I had a lot of chances with other organizations for good money, but I want to stay with GLORY and GLORY wants me to stay and they also pay me well for it, so we made a good contract and will keep working in the future.”

First up, though, before he steps back into the GLORY ring, Holzken will take on Cagri Ermis in a boxing match on April 1 in Helmond, Netherlands. He is currently 11-0 as a pro boxer with eight career knockouts.