'A lot of people wanted this fight already' - Tarik Khbabez eager to face Bahram Rajabzadeh at Glory 104

Tarik Khbabez will be in the main event of Glory 104 against Bahram Rajabzadeh (72-5, 64 KOs) for the organisation's vacant light heavyweight belt. 

Due to his fighting style, Bahram is one of the fans' favourites. Opposite him is Khbabez (52-12-1, 28 KOs), who lost to Sergej Maslobojev for the belt in Glory 100. He finally lost it two months later after testing positive for a banned substance during his fight.

DAZN News spoke with the Moroccan and his trainer Mike Polanen, who also trains Levi Rigters.

DAZN News: How was the training camp? 

Tarik Khbabez: The training camp was good. I went to Thailand. I was in Thailand to relax because over here I have my family, so there's no relaxing here. So I went to Thailand. I did a great camp over there. And now I’m back for two weeks, and now we're making sure that the game plan is there at the last minute. So camp was good.

DN: How was your last fight in Glory 100? What did you learn from that?

TK: Well, I think the biggest thing that I learned from that fight is that I should be focused all the time because I took that fight not easy, but I think that I underestimated him. And I thought, okay, this guy, I'm going to finish him. So a lot of things, I wasn't sharp. There was a lot going on also before the fight in the dressing rooms. So I think all these things combined, I wasn't there for that fight. So I learned a lot, and now I’m ready. This fight against Bahram motivated me.

DN: Did you think he had something before the fight?

Mike Polanen: I talked to Tarek about this. We talked about it, and we never thought that he would use something because he's always a fair guy, always legit. So we never thought that he would use that. But later, if you think about it, this was his last chance. He already knew how the first fight went with Tarek, so he knew that, hey, I'm going to go deep against this boy. When you think about this, then yes. But we never thought before that he would use something.

DN: Do you want to fight him another time?

TK: Of course, I want to fight him when his penalty is over. Yes, of course, we will fight him. But he's 38 years old, I think. I don't know if he's going to be back from this. But you never know. But of course, we're open to fight everybody.

DN: So you remain on a no contest.

MP: From what I understand, it's a no contest. And if you look at the rules, he should get the belt back. But Tarek already said in a lot of interviews that he doesn’t want the belt like that. He wants to fight for that belt. That's why we are doing the fight right now against Bahram.

DN: What do you think of Bahram?

TK: He’s a very good fighter. He's aggressive. Well, I respect Bahram. You know, Bahram is a real character, a strong fighter. So this fight, a lot of people wanted this fight already. So it's funny because this fight wasn't supposed to happen. It's because of Maslobojev, what happened; we took this fight on short notice, I think four or five weeks, something like that. Bahram will bring war, but he's the tank, so we will go through it. That's it.

MP: The only thing we told Glory is this. Tomorrow or today, we're going to have a discussion about this. Glory has to make a statement against Bahram because each fight, something happens. As soon as he sees he's losing the fight, he's going to throw a headbutt, he's going to do the craziest thing. And yet he never gets punished. So I told Glory that if you guys don't make a statement at the rules meeting, we will not fight. Because it should stop now. Because if you guys don't stop him, he's going to do something. And then maybe it's going to be all in the ring, outside of the ring with the audience. So they should make a statement now that, listen, you have to keep your head cool. So we will see.

DN: What did you think of his last fight in Glory 100 against Mory Kromah?

TK: It was one of the best fights in Glory. It had everything; the audience enjoyed it. I didn't think that Mory Kromah would come back like that. So it was one of the best fights. It had everything inside. The audience enjoyed it.

MP: But again, you ask me about this, it's again, if you see how many illegal things happened, he should have been disqualified a long time ago. So yeah, it was a nice fight. It was a great fight. And luckily, nothing happened to Kromah. So there should be things happening right now to prevent this.

DN: He fights in light heavyweight and in heavyweight. Do you think that it's the same fighter in the two divisions?

TK: I think that for Bahram it's the same. He always fights the same, with the same weight, same style.

MP: And I think even the heavyweight is maybe easier for him, not losing weight. Also, the heavyweights, they don't move so fast. For Bahram, it's nice for his style. He doesn't like guys that move a lot. I think for him, it's maybe even much easier to fight heavyweights.

DN Any prediction?

MP: Yeah, we're going to kill him. We're going to kill him. 100%.

DN: Right now, who is the best pound-for-pound Moroccan fighter?

MP: There's no more Badr Hari.

TK: So which Moroccan fighter is the... Me. I have a fighting style that everybody loves. It's never boring with him. So I think that's why I’m the pound-for-pound best Moroccan fighter at this moment.

MP: And to be honest, if you check which Moroccan fighters are fighting really now on the highest level, I don't know.

DN: Nabil Khachab is going to face Sofian Laidouni and maybe Levi Rigters in the final the same night? Do you think that he can beat the two guys and won that tournament for a place in December?

MP: You know that Levi is my boy, so that question 100% he's not going to beat him. I can tell you that. We'll see. But he has to pass Laidouni. I don't think he likes the style of Laidouni. Laidouni is moving really well. So to be honest, I don't see that he's going to win against Laidouni.

DN: Do you think that the reign of Jamal Ben Saddik is over?

TK: I don't think Jamal is over. I think that the style that Jamal is fighting now, it's not good for him. If he goes back to his old style, that's going to suit him better. Then maybe we can see the old Jamal again.

MP: And probably because I see they have two wild cards in the tournament (december), so probably they will give him one. So yeah, he will get his chance again.

DN: If you won that fight, can you jump in heavyweight to face Rico Verhoeven to become a double champion?

TK: Of course. Why not? I fought already one time in a tournament.

MP: Yeah, but then you were injured. It was after fighting Levi, he was all injured and Rico had nothing. But yes, of course, the problem is not Tarek, the problem is Rico. Rico chooses who he wants to fight, and that's the problem.

DN Why do you think that you have your chance? Because the last 10 years, he faced a lot of guys and he beat all those guys. Nobody has the solution.

TK: But he never fought somebody like me.

DN: All the people say the same thing and in the end -

TK: I'm interested.

MP: Yeah, but it's true what you say. It's true what you say. That's why I had the chance with Levi. Yeah, so it's true. But I think Tarek has the style to beat him. But yeah, it's true. Until that time, everybody should shut up and try to beat him. That's the thing.

How to watch GLORY 104?

GLORY 104 will be available to watch in over 200 countries with DAZN Pay-Per-View, at a one off cost of €19.99 / $19.99.

For prices in your country and buy, click here .