Jamal Ben Saddik is a Moroccan-Belgian Super heavyweightkickboxer, signed to the GLORY promotion. Nicknamed the Goliath, Ben Saddik represents Morocco when he participates in the sport. As of 1 February 2019, he is ranked the #2 heavyweight in the world by Combat Press.
Background
Born and raised in Antwerp, Ben Saddik was taken to a kickboxing gym at the age of nine by his father, who feared life in the streets would have a negative impact on his son. As a teen, Ben Saddik was shot and grazed with a bullet after a street fight. In 2012, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which would emerge again around a year later. Ben Saddik has since been cancer-free.
Career
Ben Saddik is a product of the Golden Glory gym and is a student of Cor Hemmers. He made his debut in the It's Showtime promotion on March 6, 2011 at ' and beat Rico Verhoeven. He was then scheduled to fight Anderson Silva at ' on May 21, 2011, but the bout was scrapped when Silva was instead moved to the It's Showtime 2011 Lyon card to fight Daniel Ghiță. He TKO'd Vitaly Oparin in round one at United Glory 15 on March 23, 2012, and followed this up with a fourth round KO of Nikolaj Falin on June 2, 2012. Ben Saddik lost a decision to Jahfarr Wilnis at ' on October 6, 2012. But, despite this setback, he was invited to compete at ', the biggest heavyweight tournament in kickboxing history, on December 31, 2012. He upset world #4 Errol Zimmermanat the opening stage, taking a decision. In the quarter-finals, he beat Remy Bonjasky on points, but lost via a quick body kick from Daniel Ghiță in the semis. Despite coming back from the tournament empty-handed, Ben Saddik's stock rose greatly by beating two much higher-rated fighters. Ben Saddik fought Peter Aerts at ' on May 3, 2013 in Tokyo. He started well and floored Aerts in round one, but the Dutchman rallied back and dropped him three times in the second, forcing a referee stoppage. He was knocked out late in round three by Ben Edwards in a slugfest at ' in New York City on November 23, 2013. He was expected to fight Benjamin Adegbuyi at ' in Zagreb, Croatia on March 8, 2014. However he broke his hand while training so he was replaced with Dmytro Bezus. He knocked out Nicolas Wamba in round two at ' in Broomfield, Colorado, US on May 3, 2014. He lost via disqualification when he attacked a downed Hesdy Gerges just seconds into their bout at Qabala Fight Series #1 in Qabala, Azerbaijan on June 29, 2014. Jamal lost to Rico Verhoeven by TKO for the Glory World Championship 49 after his won fight in 2011. He was seen spitting in the face of Rico Verhoeven in a prefight press conference for which he was fined after the incident. On December 8, 2018, he won the Glory 62 8 man tournament by knocking out Benjamin Adegbuyi in the first round of the final, after winning his fights against Junior Tafa and Guto Inocente in the quarter and semi-final respectively.
