It wasn’t the easiest day at the office for kickboxing referee Edward Strijkert.
Tasked with officiating the main event of Glory Collision 5 between Tariq Osaro and Antonio Plazibat for the interim heavyweight title, Strijkert found himself becoming a bigger part of the action than just being the third man in the ring.
In the final seconds of the second round, Plazibat closed on Osaro to unleash a combination of strikes against the ropes. Knowing time was short, Strijkert stayed close to the action. As soon as the bell sounded to signal the end of the round, the referee stepped between the two fighters. Unfortunately for Strijkert, Plazibat was still throwing punches and caught the referee with a clean right hand, sending him to the canvas on all fours.
Check out video of the incident below (via Twitter):
The ref went down during the #COLLISION5 main event pic.twitter.com/04Bo5Iur3O
— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) June 17, 2023
Strijkert quickly got back to one knee and remained in the position for a few seconds. He rose to his feet and shook off the blow, but was replaced by another referee who would complete the bout.
As for the fight between the two people who expected to get punched in the face, “Cookie” Osaro went on to record a knockout finish in the fifth round to capture the Glory interim heavyweight crown.
Cookie Osaro capped off a flawless performance at #COLLISION5 with this finish… pic.twitter.com/7C5RzgPQMv
— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) June 17, 2023
Osaro will now face Rico Verhoeven later in the year to unify the heavyweight title.
