Rico Verhoeven kicking Errol Zimmerman (photo via GLORY)

By FCF Staff

Rico Verhoeven rocked Errol Zimmerman early on in their headliner last night at GLORY 19, but due to a knee injury the latter incurred, the bout concluded on an anticlimactic note.

Zimmerman fell awkwardly to the mat in round two, after attempting a spinning technique, and the punishing striker was unable to continue. Speaking after the card, here is what the heavyweight champ Verhoeven had to say about the fight and it’s unfortunate conclusion (quote via GLORY press release).

“That wasn’t the way that I wanted the fight to end and even though me and Errol are professional rivals you never want to see anyone get an injury like that. So I hope that he recovers well from it and gets back to competition. But certainly I think that if the injury didn’t happen he wouldn’t have made it to the fifth round. The fight wouldn’t have gone to the fifth, absolutely not, I am sure of that. I would have finished it.”

With the TKO wn, Verhoeven has taken the lead in his series with Zimmerman, as the challenger stopped him in 2012, but was decisioned in their 2013 rematch.

Verhoeven was also asked about who he might fight next, and the Dutch fighter relayed:

“Next, I don’t know. I think Benjamin Adegbuyi is emerging as a contender but he didn’t fight any really top-level guys yet so I don’t know if we could call him a contender right now. First things first I am going back home to the Netherlands to see my family and relax for a few days, then we will see what comes next.”

The 25 year-old Verhoeven improved his overall record to 45-10-1 with last night’s win.

GLORY 19 took place in Hampton, Virginia.