Francis Ngannou, as has been the case since he left the UFC, has options.
“The Predator” made a successful return to MMA and a successful PFL debut with a first-round knockout of Renan Ferreira this past Saturday at the Battle of the Giants event in Saudi Arabia. That performance came in the wake of two massive boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, making Ngannou one of the most intriguing names in all of combat sports.
What’s next for Ngannou is anyone’s guess, but one name throwing his hat into the ring is Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.
“I’ve been thinking about a crossover for quite some time now, so I love the idea,” Verhoeven said when Ngannou was suggested to him on The Ariel Helwani Show. “It’s a new challenge. Not that I’m done with challenges within Glory, but I’ve got an amazing win streak and title defense streak and earlier this year we won an amazing tournament but I’m open to new challenges. When we’re talking about the baddest on the planet, let’s find out who it is.”
Verhoeven has been one of the most dominant kickboxers of the past decade, having won 20 straight fights dating back to 2015, including 11 defenses of his Glory title. The 35-year-old Dutchman is currently scheduled for a championship rematch against Levi Rigters on Dec. 7.
Should Verhoeven be successful, he’ll be on the hunt for another marquee matchup and Ngannou more than fits the bill. They could meet under kickboxing or MMA rules, but Verhoeven has another suggestion in mind.
“There’s so many different flavors,” Verhoeven said. “It could be a home and away fight, a kickboxing and an MMA fight, which most likely ends up maybe 1-1. But a boxing match, that’s interesting, because that’s a way for both of us even though he’s been doing two boxing fights in the last year, but still it’s different and I’ve been boxing for quite some years as well. Not on a professional level, not in a ring, but been training with [Tyson Fury’s uncle] Peter Fury for years and years and he says, ‘You’re ready for it. Let any top-level boxer challenge you and let’s show what we got.’”
Verhoeven and Ngannou are familiar with each other, having spent time training together in the U.S., but both appear to be open to the potential matchup. In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Ngannou smiled when the fight was suggested and said, “Send me the deal.”
A crossover fight built around mutual respect might not seem like box office gold at first glance, but Verhoeven thinks it’s a fight fans need to see.
“What I would like to say to [PFL] is just, hey, when we’re talking about baddest on the planet and we’re talking about crossover fights: This thing must happen,” Verhoeven said. “This must happen. It has to happen because we’ve been seeing throughout the last few years the most crazy fights and I think this is one of them that needs to be added to the list. So let’s make it happen.”
