Tyjani Beztati had a lot more to give kickboxing – but instead, he'll give it to MMA.

Unlike many of his other strike-savvy brethren of kickboxing title fights' past, Beztati has hit the restart button in the early prime of his career. The current GLORY lightweight champion, Beztati has retired from kickboxing and has his pro MMA debut set for Nov. 2 in Levels Fight League. No opponent is locked, as two have already withdrawn before their matchup announcements.

"I felt like there was a limit in kickboxing," Beztati recently told MMA Junkie. "I was a champion in the biggest kickboxing organization in the world, which is GLORY. I was a champion six times in the lightweight division. I moved up to the welterweight division and beat the former champion. Then, I got a chance to fight the reigning champion. Both fights, I won those fights. But both fights, they gave a draw. It is what it is. But it's not the reason I moved. I achieved what I wanted to achieve in kickboxing. Now it's time to become a global superstar. I feel like in kickboxing, it's keeping me kind of small."

Beztati, 27, trades in a 27-5-2 pro kickboxing for a 0-0 MMA record, though he's not starting completely from scratch. Obviously, the striking abilities speak for themselves. Just look at the accolades. But he has grappling experience from stints dating back to 2019, during which he worked in Liverpool with Darren Till and PFL/Bellator alum Raphael Uchegbu, among others.

In 2023, Beztati was set to become a free agent. That's when thoughts crept into his brain about a jump to boxing or MMA. But now that he's coming off back-to-back draws attempting to win GLORY welterweight gold to complement his five lightweight title defenses, Beztati decided it was finally time to expand his potential ceiling.

"To be honest, the kickboxing world and the kickboxing game is kind of small, even though it is a world-class sport," Beztati said. "But MMA and boxing are much bigger than kickboxing. When I'm doing something and have a career in something, I just want to reach the biggest and most unthinkable things. I feel like MMA is rising. MMA is a huge sport at the moment and it's going to become bigger and bigger. I feel like this is the right move at the right time. … But big things and huge things take time. I took my time. I made sure that I was ready. Now is the time to make the transition."

GLORY Kickboxing confirms that lightweight champion Tyjani Beztati is leaving GLORY to pursue a career in MMA.

GLORY would like to thank Tyjani Beztati for being an incredible champion, a great ambassador, and wish him well on his future endeavours. Should he wish to return to… pic.twitter.com/mjwK3Hxzgi

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) September 1, 2025

Born in the Netherlands to a Moroccan father and Surinamese mother, Beztati is proud of his multicultural representation. He's long represented all three countries, having made his pro kickboxing debut at age 18. His sister actually was the one to introduce him to the sport as a child.

Beztati is the latest in a slowly building trend of kickboxers transitioning. But unlike Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, Beztati is relatively young and a lighter-weight (he will compete at welterweight). He thinks his specific style and intelligence in the cage will make him a force immediately, but he is not rushing. Excellence takes time, Beztati stressed.

"Everything I do is a calculated move," Beztati said. "This move was a calculated move. Like I said before, I'm 27 now. I'm in the prime of my career. … My style in kickboxing, you can translate that easily to MMA, as well. … "I have a very high fight IQ. My fight IQ is very high, so I can adapt in every situation. I feel like a lot of kickboxers, when they go to make the transition, they fight with both hands up. The way they are standing, for kickboxing it's good. For MMA, it's going to be very hard because a wrestler is going to take you down easily. I move a lot. I know how to attempt those things. That's a very important thing."

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Fighting is not a hobby for Beztati, who explained that he essentially views it as his existence. What more fulfilling experience could he find than winning a UFC title? How about sending a positive message as he climbs to the top?

Of course, when I do something, I want to reach for the biggest things and the highest things. The biggest is the UFC. So I definitely have that as my end goal, to become a champion there as well – 100 percent. … One of the important things, when I signed with LFL, was that I want activity. I want to be active. I want my name out there. I want people to talk about me and notice me and see this guy is coming. In GLORY, to be honest, since they are focused on the heavyweights, I didn't have a lot of fights the last couple years – two, maybe three times a year (I'd compete) if I was lucky. I was earning good money in GLORY, but I see the bigger picture. I see the bigger picture. It's MMA.

"In MMA, there are a lot of big organizations where you can earn money and where you can grow as a global superstar. That's what I want. I want to inspire people. I want to inspire people. I want to be that guy when people have a tough time or rough time or have mental health issues or stuff like that, and show them. I experienced a lot of things in my life that weren't that good and were pretty f*cked up. But I'm still here. I overcame those things. I just want to be someone's light."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: GLORY champ retires from kickboxing in pursuit of UFC dream

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