Contributor: Benjamin Kohn
In the first fight of the main card, it’s a match-up of two fighters who have big power and a tendency to finish their fights with brutal KO’s. Disclaimer, while Wikipedia has some differing stats from those Glory used, I will use Wikipedia for uniformity. Anyway, Zimmerman is a true veteran of the sport with 98 total fights at only 28 years old. He has 77 wins with almost half of them, 42, by way of KO. He has big power in his hands which he makes the best use of in his close quarters boxing, using combinations to bull his way inside before unleashing powerful hooks and uppercuts. While Errol is most definitely a mainstay among the top of the Heavyweight kickboxing world, he’s always had trouble cracking into the elite level with guys like Ghita, Saki, Schilt, and now Verhoeven, a man he actually holds a win over from a few years ago. Errol has definitely proven he’s at the doorstep of elitism with victories of Hesdy Gerges, Jerome Le Banner, and Rico Verhoeven. He’s looking to make that next step by becoming the next challenger for the Glory Heavyweight champion where he may get another chance to beat the current champ, Verhoeven, should he retain his strap against Ghita in their upcoming fight.
Ben Edwards is the definition of a kickboxer who relies almost solely on his hands. The big and burly Aussie Heavyweight tips the scale at around 260 pounds, has 38 wins as a pro kickboxer with 33 of them by KO. His style is definitely not pretty, with a brawler-type mentality and reliance on his power to neutralize skill disadvantages he may have. Edwards is on a current 4 fight winning streak, most recently winning a comeback KO fight with Jamal Ben-Saddik, a man who beat Errol in a decision not too long ago at Glory 4 Tokyo. Conspicuously absent from Edwards’s record though are high level opponents, aside from Rico Verhoeven and Alistair Overeem, the most high level opponent seems to be Ben-Saddik. Despite his lack of top flight competition, Edwards, though limited, is most definitely a threat on the feet due to his toughness and ability to absorb punishment and very powerful punches. Let’s get into a big more detail on the technical styles of these two and what they like to do in their fights.
Errol’s power is just scratching the surface of his kickboxing repertoire as he has a wide variety of attacks to choose from. His powerful combinations switching from longer hooks to tighter uppercuts, body shots, and hooks behind the gloves, his hard kicks to the legs and body, and his tendency to throw jumping knees all make him a very dangerous opponent. Defensively however, he’s not exactly a savant and is more than willing to eat shots he shouldn’t have to in order to land his own. He is
especially susceptible to leg kicks, although he tends to actually check them but only after they start visibly hurting him, and will lean back when faced with long straight punches, trying to counter with his chin straight up and throwing wildly. He is definitely a tough guy and can take lots of punishment but he does get dropped due to the punishment he takes. Overall though, he’s a seriously powerful and technical offensive fighter who can take a lot of punishment and dish it back in spades. His opponent is also someone who takes punches in order to land his own. Will that work against Edwards though?
Edwards’s skillset is far more limited than Zimmerman’s and was well on his way to losing a decision to Ben-Saddik before his opponent completely gassed out. He is a plodding brawler whose primary weapons are a winging right hand and a left hook to the body that he landed very effectively against Ben-Saddik. Interestingly enough, the finish against Ben-Saddik was 
through effective straight punching before landing his big right hand and using combinations against the tiring big man. Edwards prefers to try and walk his opponent down though and work from phone booth range where his opponents can’t move out of range. While he was able to catch Ben-Saddik when he was tired, the fight was essentially him getting busted up from the fringe. Against Zimmerman, he will be fighting a more experienced and technically superior fighter with just as much power as he has. That’s something that’s a daunting task for any fighter moving up in competition level.
Truth be told, its Zimmerman’s fight to lose. He’s got the experience, power, and technical skill to outclass the lumbering Edwards. However, there is definitely a chance for an upset if Edwards can drag Zimmerman into a brawl, which he can lose against the tough and powerful Edwards. While there’s a distinct chance of that happening, I can’t choose against Zimmerman. The skill gap is just too wide and I feel that Errol may actually fight smart and conserve his energy for the next round by fighting smart and technical fight, clearly winning a decision.
Final Prediction: Errol Zimmerman by Unanimous Decision.
-Ben can be reached at [email protected] or @agentbenten.
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