A potential super fight between Francis Ngannou and Glory superstar Rico Verhoeven is off the table, but not for the reason you’d expect.
A showdown between former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and Glory Kickboxing’s Rico Verhoeven seemed on the cusp of coming to fruition after mutual interest from the two giants. After finishing former PFL champion Renan Ferreira in his MMA return last year, Ngannou teased a potential crossover fight with Verhoeven for his next appearance in the PFL SmartCage.
Ngannou, Verhoeven, and the two promotions seemed on the same page in making the crossover booking become a reality. Verhoeven seemed confident in securing the Ngannou fight during his most recent sitdown with Bloody Elbow.
But the Ngannou vs. Verhoeven fight is indefinitely delayed after a head-scratching decision by one of Alex Pereira‘s former rivals.
Artem Vakhitov turned down DWCS contract to return to kickboxing
Recent UFC signee Artem Vakhitov, despite earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, declined the UFC’s offer and entered a brief free agency period. The former Glory light heavyweight champion handed Pereira one of his few career defeats by majority decision at Glory 78.
After failing to come to terms with the UFC on a deal for his debut fight, Vakhitov will return to Glory later this year to fight Verhoeven at Glory 100 for the latter’s heavyweight title on June 14th.
With Vakhitov’s declined contract offer, and Verhoeven contractually locked up to face Vakhitov, the Ngannou vs. Verhoeven fight is firmly off the table for the foreseeable future.
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Vakhitov explained his unusual decision to decline the UFC contract in favor of fighting Verhoeven.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach an agreement on some things,” Vakhitov said of the UFC’s offer. “When we got an offer and we saw the news of all the Russian fighters coming back to Glory, and got an offer to fight Rico and possibly become a double champion, we agreed very easily.
“For the show, for good money, why not?”
Ngannou vs. Verhoeven could potentially happen at a later date. But with Ngannou’s targeted return to boxing, and with Verhoeven set to face Vakhitov at Glory 100, the fight isn’t expected to take place anytime soon.
- READ MORE: Jon Jones offered astronomical pay for Francis Ngannou fight in PFL as Tom Aspinall talks continue
Francis Ngannou eyes showdown with former boxing champ as he vies for first career win
As for Ngannou, he’s repeatedly teased a potential fight with Deontay Wilder later this year for his return to the ring. Ngannou is 0-2 in his professional boxing career with losses to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Verhoeven revealed that talks to face Ngannou were at the ‘halfway point’ at the negotiation table. Ngannou also discussed the Verhoeven fight in recent interviews.
Verhoeven was briefly left off the Glory roster for its upcoming heavyweight tournament as rumored Ngannou fight talks moved forward. But after Vakhitov’s UFC leave, Glory pounced at the opportunity to hand Verhoeven an opponent for his kickboxing comeback.
Ngannou has one fight left on his PFL contract against a to-be-determined opponent, but boxing appears to be his top priority right now. A crossover fight with Verhoeven fell apart and could be revisited down the line.