{"id":42299,"date":"2026-02-09T15:48:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/world-champion-stripped-of-title-after-declining-fans-rematch-demand-following-fight-of-the-year-showdown\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T15:48:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:48:30","slug":"world-champion-stripped-of-title-after-declining-fans-rematch-demand-following-fight-of-the-year-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/world-champion-stripped-of-title-after-declining-fans-rematch-demand-following-fight-of-the-year-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"World Champion Stripped of Title After Declining Fans\u2019 Rematch Demand Following &#8216;Fight of the Year&#8217; Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/world-champion-stripped-of-title-after-declining-fans-rematch-demand-following-fight-of-the-year-showdown\/#Tariq_Kababez_Stripped_of_GLORY_Light_Heavyweight_Title_for_Declining_Rematch\" >Tariq Kababez Stripped of GLORY Light Heavyweight Title for Declining Rematch<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/world-champion-stripped-of-title-after-declining-fans-rematch-demand-following-fight-of-the-year-showdown\/#GLORY_Sets_Title_Fight_for_Vacant_Light_Heavyweight_Championship_on_April_25th\" >GLORY Sets Title Fight for Vacant Light Heavyweight Championship on April 25th<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>Even reaching the pinnacle of their sport doesn\u2019t guarantee a fighter\u2019s continued success.<\/p>\n<p>We recently witnessed the fall of one of UFC&#8217;s most dominant champions, Alexandre Pantoja, who lost his title after suffering a devastating injury inside the Octagon last December.<\/p>\n<p>Even the best athletes in the world can experience sudden setbacks and fail to hold onto their crown indefinitely.<\/p>\n<p>There are numerous cases where fighters, despite reaching the heights of their careers, face rapid declines afterward.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent update, one fighter\u2019s reign as a world champion ended before it truly began.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tariq_Kababez_Stripped_of_GLORY_Light_Heavyweight_Title_for_Declining_Rematch\"><\/span>Tariq Kababez Stripped of GLORY Light Heavyweight Title for Declining Rematch<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>On the same night that Rico Verhoeven convincingly defeated Artem Bakhitov in his final GLORY appearance, Tariq Kababez was defeated by Sergei Maslobodev, losing his light heavyweight championship.<\/p>\n<p>Maslobodev, who had to vacate the title previously due to a positive doping test, gave Kababez\u2014who had beaten him at GLORY 100\u2014a chance to reclaim it.<\/p>\n<p>Kababez\u2019s victory over Bahram Rajabzadeh last October earned him GLORY\u2019s 2025 \u201cFight of the Year\u201d honors, which was a majority decision win.<\/p>\n<p>GLORY initially announced that Kababez planned to defend his title at GLORY 107 in Rotterdam on April 25th.<\/p>\n<p>However, it was later revealed that Kababez had refused a rematch with Rajabzadeh and, as a result, was stripped of his belt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite confirming his intention to defend the title, Tariq Kababez refused a rematch with Bahram Rajabzadeh,\u201d the promotion stated on social media. \u201cTheir first fight was the \u2018Fight of the Year\u2019 and ended closely, but fans have been clamoring for a rematch since. Because GLORY chooses the fighters for title defenses, Kababez\u2019s refusal led to his disqualification.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"GLORY_Sets_Title_Fight_for_Vacant_Light_Heavyweight_Championship_on_April_25th\"><\/span>GLORY Sets Title Fight for Vacant Light Heavyweight Championship on April 25th<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Following the announcement that the light heavyweight title was vacant, GLORY unveiled the matchup to crown the new champion on April 25th.<\/p>\n<p>Bahram Rajabzadeh will compete for the belt in Rotterdam\u2014but his opponent won\u2019t be Kababez; instead, he will face Donovan Wisse.<\/p>\n<p>Wisse, the reigning middleweight champion, has defended his title six times since capturing the vacant belt in 2021 by defeating former UFC fighter Yousri Bergaly.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Fan Take:<\/strong><br \/>\nThis shakeup in the GLORY light heavyweight division highlights the unpredictable nature of combat sports, where even top champions can lose their crowns due to factors beyond just fighting. For fight fans, it sets the stage for fresh rivalries and intense matchups that could redefine this division\u2019s landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even reaching the pinnacle of their sport doesn\u2019t guarantee a fighter\u2019s continued success. We recently witnessed the fall of one of UFC&#8217;s most dominant champions, Alexandre Pantoja, who lost his title after suffering a devastating injury inside the Octagon last December. Even the best athletes in the world can experience sudden setbacks and fail to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443],"tags":[2444],"class_list":{"0":"post-42299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fighting","8":"tag-fighting"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}