Kickboxer Ben Saddik's trainer wants to stop talking about Rico Verhoeven incident

The trainer working with kickboxer Jamal Ben Saddik, Said El Badaoui, thinks that commentators and journalists have already said all that can be said about his pupil kicking at Rico Verhoeven's head after a match during Saturday's Glory Grand Prix tournament in the GelreDome. Verhoeven, from the Netherlands, won the tournament held in a single evening, and collected a 500,000 dollar pay day.

"Let's not make it any bigger than it is and keep the focus on the sporting achievements. That's what really matters," El Badaoui said on Facebook.

Ben Saddik was in the corner of fight Nabil Khachab on Saturday, who lost to Verhoeven in the semi-final. Ben Saddik then tried to kick Verhoeven in the head shortly after the fight. Verhoeven tried then to get his hands on Ben Saddik but was restrained by security in the ring.

Glory, the organizer of the tournament, said it will investigate the incident. "Glory has a strict code of conduct for all athletes and their corner teams," the organizer told the media.

"Rico has proven that he is a true champion. The victory was well deserved," El Badaoui added on Facebook. "Emotions can get the better of fighters and their teams. This was the case on both sides. We have seen this plenty of times at all of the big organizations worldwide. Luckily, it happened in the ring and not outside of it."

Verhoeven and Ben Saddik have intensely disliked each other since the Belgian Moroccan spat in the Dutch world champion's face during a stare-down in 2017. Verhoeven was enraged after the attempted kick by Ben Saddik on Saturday.

"I have clearly won deservedly. And then he comes into the ring again. This man should be banned from the sport. It is unacceptable."