Two unbiased sources inform LowKick MMA that Dutch heavyweight Levi Riggtels has left GLORY Kickboxing and is scheduled to make his skilled MMA debut in September, persevering with a long-standing pattern of elite kickboxers leaving the group.
The vacation spot has not been confirmed, however there’s hypothesis that three organizations working within the Netherlands are the more than likely touchdown websites. Rebels Struggle League claims to be the biggest MMA promotion within the Benelux area and is predicated in Amsterdam. PFL Europe, the European division of the Skilled Fighters League. Or Cage Warriors Academy Lowlands, an Eindhoven-based group that provides expertise to Cage Warriors, one among Europe’s premier MMA promotions.
Levi Riggters leaves GLORY Kickboxing, MMA debut scheduled for September
Rigers, 30, from Abkud, Netherlands, has a 28-5 report in his kickboxing profession, with 15 of these wins coming by knockout. He signed with GLORY in August 2020 after dominating the Enfusion circuit, successful the heavyweight title twice and successful the 2019 Abu Dhabi World Grand Prix by defeating Martin Pacas within the closing.
“The Decide” made his GLORY debut at Glory 76 in December 2020, and received the identical evening by defeating Marciano Bugwandas and Nordine Mahiedin by knockout in a four-man event. Rigters, recognized throughout the promotion because the “Prince of Kickboxing,” educated with ARJ Trainingen below coach Michael Polanen in the course of the later years of GLORY.
His time with GLORY produced a sequence of notable performances. In August 2025, at GLORY 103 in Rotterdam, he knocked out Jamal Ben Saddiq with a roundhouse kick to the physique in spherical 3, a end that propelled him squarely into the Final Heavyweight Standing Match. He was scheduled to combat Antonio Prazibat for a spot within the event finals at Collision 8 in December 2025, however he withdrew as a consequence of private causes. He then misplaced to Sofian Raidouuni at GLORY 104, fully disqualifying him from the event.
The largest matches of his profession have been his second title problem towards Rico Verhoeven. He confronted Verhoeven within the GLORY Heavyweight Grand Prix finals in March 2024 and in a rematch at Collision 7 in December 2024, dropping each by unanimous determination, however getting knocked down within the course of.
Riggers leaving GLORY matches a now well-worn sample. The record of notable Dutch and European GLORY fighters who’ve turned to MMA in recent times is lengthy. Alex Pereira leaves as a two-division GLORY World Champion and went on to win UFC titles at middleweight and lightweight heavyweight. Two-time GLORY welterweight champion Cedric Doumbe signed with PFL in 2023, citing a big pay disparity as a part of the rationale. GLORY Light-weight Champion Tijani Beztati retired from kickboxing in September 2025 and made his MMA debut within the Rebels Struggle League. Former GLORY mild heavyweight champion Doneghi Abena signed with PFL in Might 2026. Former GLORY welterweight champion Endy Semeraire lately confirmed that he’s leaving the group.
Even Rico Verhoeven left GLORY by asserting his departure in November 2025, and on Might 23, 2026, he challenged Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC boxing heavyweight title on the Pyramids of Giza, dropping by stoppage in a hard-fought combat with one second left in spherical 11.
For Riggters, who constructed his kickboxing profession on a kicking recreation that included highly effective excessive kicks, physique kicks and knee strikes, the transition to MMA posed distinctive challenges. No matter his putting expertise, it takes time to include wrestling, submissions, and grappling transitions. Beztati, who made an identical breakthrough just some months in the past, spoke candidly about how the transition would require an entire rebuild from the bottom up. If the September schedule is correct, it is aggressive, though not unprecedented for a striker of Riggters’ degree of expertise.
No announcement has been made by the Rigters or the organizations named.
