GLORY 99: Last Heavyweight Standing

GLORY 99: Last Heavyweight Standing was a professional kickboxing event held on April 5, 2025, at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands, broadcast live on DAZN. It served as the opening chapter of GLORY's ambitious five-event 'Last Heavyweight Standing' series — a 32-man single-elimination heavyweight tournament designed to crown an undisputed GLORY heavyweight champion across five events culminating later in 2025. The entire card consisted of 16 first-round heavyweight bouts, with each winner advancing to GLORY 100 in June 2025.

In the main event, Dutch-Moroccan heavyweight icon Jamal Ben Saddik returned to form with a dominant unanimous decision (30-27 across all five judges) over Cristian Ristea, validating his continued elite status in the division. The co-main saw Bahram 'The Golden Wolf' Rajabzadeh score his seventh GLORY knockout, flooring Brian Douwes three times in the opening round before a referee stoppage at 2:41.

Tariq Osaro (son of Kevin Osaro, whose fight with Benjamin Adegbuyi was listed on the original card) stopped Adegbuyi by KO at 1:59 of round one. Nico Pereira Horta turned in the night's major upset, knocking out the heavily favored Rade Opačić with a clean punch at 2:52 of round two. Miloš Cvjetićanin edged Nabil Khachab by split decision. Sofian Laïdouni wasted little time, stopping Oleg Pryimachov with punches at 1:47 of round one. Asadulla Nasipov outpointed Murat Aygun by unanimous decision.

Mory Kromah advanced when Nicolas Wamba suffered a leg injury TKO at 1:37 of round two. Tomáš Možný scored a unanimous decision over Sina Karimian in a bout noted as controversial by some observers. Alin Nechita defeated Ahmed Krnjić by unanimous decision. Ionut Iancu earned a corner-stoppage TKO at the end of round one against Cihad Kepenek. Iraj Azizpour delivered one of the night's highlights, dropping Yuri Farcas with a spinning backfist KO at 1:17 of round two. Asdren Gashi survived a closely contested bout to take a split decision over Nidal Bchiri. Colin George ended Miroslav Vujović's night via arm-injury KO at 1:35 of round two. Anis Bouzid recorded the event's fastest finish, stopping Nathan Cook with punches at just 0:28 of round one. Finally, Luijg Gashi closed the card with a unanimous decision over Petr Romankevich.

All 16 winners — Ben Saddik, Rajabzadeh, T. Osaro, Horta, Cvjetićanin, Laïdouni, Nasipov, Kromah, Možný, Nechita, Iancu, Azizpour, A. Gashi, George, Bouzid, and L. Gashi — advanced to the second round at GLORY 100. The card was notable for multiple injury stoppages (leg and arm) and several explosive first-round finishes, setting a high-octane tone for the broader tournament series.

Sources: combatpress.com, glorykickboxing.com, beyondkick.com