Referee was knocked out during a title fight at Glory (Photo: Reproduction/Twitter)
Knockouts are common when it comes to kickboxing duels between elite heavyweights. Except when the victim is the referee of the fight. And that's exactly what happened last Saturday (17), in the main fight of Glory Collision 5, between Tariq Osaro and Antonio Plazibat, in the Netherlands, when referee Edward Strijkest was the target of an unintentional punch and ended up knocked out in the ring.
The unusual incident occurred at the end of the second round of the duel, which was worth Glory's interim heavyweight belt. Observing the action between the fighters closely, Edward Strijkest tried to separate the athletes right after the bell, but ended up being hit squarely by a late punch thrown by Antonio Plazibat.
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Edward fell to his knees and remained in this position for a few seconds, before getting up with the help of the ring ropes. The referee was replaced by another colleague following the fight.
Responsible for knocking out the referee, Croatian Antonio Plazibat 'tasted his own medicine' and ended up being knocked out by Nigerian Tariq Osaro in the fifth round. With the victory, the Nigerian won the interim Glory heavyweight belt and must face lineal champion Rico Verhoeven to unify the titles.
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