Tarik Khbabez
Tarik Khbabez, nicknamed “The Tank,” is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer competing in Glory, where he holds the Glory Light Heavyweight Championship. Born on April 20, 1992, in Salé, Morocco, he grew up in The Hague, Netherlands. He fights out of ARJ Trainingen under trainer Maikel Polanen, uses an orthodox stance, and stands about 184 cm tall (roughly 6 feet) with a 74-inch reach. His pro record stands at 66 fights: 53 wins (28 by knockout), 12 losses (8 by KO), and 1 draw.
Khbabez rose through the Superkombat ranks, winning the 2015 Superkombat World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament and the 2014 qualification. He later moved to ONE Championship in 2018, debuting with a win over Alain Ngalani and going on to score several victories in ONE Super Series. He challenged for ONE’s inaugural Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Championship in 2019 but was defeated.
In 2020, he signed with Glory. He reached the four-man heavyweight tournament at Glory 77, defeating Levi Rigters by split decision before losing to Rico Verhoeven in the final. After some injury troubles, he returned to action, including a loss to Antonio Plazibat and a later bid for the vacant Glory Light Heavyweight title in 2022, which he narrowly lost by split decision to Sergej Maslobojev.
In 2023, he defeated Kristaps Zile at Glory 84 and then won the interim Glory Light Heavyweight Championship when his challenger withdrew and he stopped Mohamed Amine in the fourth round. He later fought for the title again, winning a championship defense against Donegi Abena at Glory Collision 7 in December 2024. In 2025 he lost a title fight to Sergej Maslobojev by KO, but later captured the vacant Glory Light Heavyweight Championship again by defeating Bahram Rajabzadeh at Glory 104.
Khbabez has been ranked as the No. 1 light heavyweight by Combat Press and Beyond Kickboxing as of May 2025.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:05 (CET).