PFL World Champion Francis Ngannou might have a future opponent in Rico Verhoeven, the kickboxing world title holder. Rumors and quotes have been circulating just lately.
Francis Ngannou
Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou was the UFC heavyweight champion and was feared for his placing energy, with an unimaginable 85% knockout win charge. Since strolling away from the group, he took on two blockbuster boxing fights in opposition to champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Afterward, he returned to MMA to seize the PFL heavyweight title with a first-round knockout.
Photograph by Tim Wheaton
Rico Verhoeven
The Dutch-born Rico Verhoeven captured the GLORY Kickboxing World title in 2014 and has not misplaced since, he now has compiled 11 title defenses plus a Grand Prix championship alongside the best way. He’s greatest recognized for his fights in opposition to Badr Hari. The kickboxer has a 32% knockout win charge and has largely cleared out the heavyweight division. His subsequent bout is a rematch in opposition to Levi Rigters then hopefully he can face Antonio Plazibat, after that, there’s nobody left on this division.
Francis Ngannou vs. Rico Verhoeven
When Francis Ngannou left the UFC, he was fielding presents from many organizations as the most popular free agent in fight sports activities. GLORY Kickboxing circulated a narrative stating that they’d despatched Ngannou a proposal. In a dialog with me, Ngannou stated that this story was merely false. In no unsure phrases, he stated: “No, no. I by no means obtained a proposal from GLORY.“
The Cameroonian athlete had a singular kickboxing win earlier than he made his skilled MMA debut. Reflecting on this match, Francis Ngannou advised me: “Well, I remember it was a moment that I just wanted to fight. I was very excited, was very hungry, and was training all the time. I wanted to fight. My kickboxing wasn’t great though … But I was just like, I have the will to win. I was going there for everything. It was quite a good experience.”
Photograph by Tim Wheaton
The kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven has a singular MMA victory from 2015. Verhoeven and Ngannou have every competed professionally throughout kickboxing, MMA, and boxing. The ruleset in a possible may very well be combined following a protracted historical past of kickboxers vs. MMA fighters, corresponding to we used to see Ok-1 vs. PRIDE occasions.. In dialog with the PFL although; they’re not seeking to combine guidelines.
Talking in an interview with Ariel Helwani, Verhoeven implored the general public for this match. He stated:
“What I want to say to them is simply, I feel after we’re speaking about ‘Baddest on the Planet’, and we’re speaking about crossover fights, this should occur! It hasn’t occurred as a result of we’ve accomplished probably the most loopy fights, and that is one in every of them that must be added to the listing. So let’s make it occur!
“Let’s find out who it is…the crossover talks, they’ve been going on for quite some time. For example, what’s going on in [Saudi Arabia] is awesome. They’ve put mixed martial arts on the map in a different way…there’s so many different flavors. Could be a home-and-away fight, kickboxing or MMA fight, which likely ends up 1-1. But a boxing match, that’s interesting, because it’s a different way for both of us.”
