A potentially super fight between Francis Ngannou and Glory Superstar Rico Verhoeven is off the table, but not for the reason you would expect.
A confrontation between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou and Glory Kickboxing's Rico Verhoeven seemed to be about to flourish after mutual interest of the two giants. After completing former PFL champion Renan Ferreira in his MMA -backkeer last year, Ngannou teased a potentially crossover with Verhoeven for his next performance in the PFL Smartcage.
Ngannou, Verhoeven and the two promotions seemed on the same page to make the crossover booking a reality. Verhoeven seemed confidence in securing the Ngannou fight during his most recent sitdown with bloody elbow.
But the fight of Ngannou vs. Verhoeven is delayed indefinitely after a Head-Scratching decision by one of the former rivals of Alex Pereira.
Split image of Francis Ngannou at a PFL conference, opposite Rico Verhoven posing after he had been abandoned from Alistair Overeem. Credits: Marco de Swart/ANP/AFP via Getty Images, Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Artem Vakhitov has rejected DWCS contract to return to kickboxing
Recent UFC certificate Artem Vakhitov, despite obtaining a contract on the Dana White Contender Series last year, refused the UFC's offer and entered a short period of free agency. The former Glory Light Heavyweight Champion handed Pereira one of his few career -the defeats by majority decision at Glory 78.
After he did not come to terms with the UFC about a deal for his debut fight, Vakhitov will return to Glory later this year to fight Venhoeven on Glory 100 for the heavyweight title of the latter on 14 June.
With the rejected contract offer from Vakhitov and Verhoeven contractually locked up to face Vakhitov, the fight by Ngannou vs. Verhoeven firmly out of the table for the near future.
During a recent performance on the Ariel Helwani show, Vakhitov explained his unusual decision to refuse the UFC contract in favor of combating Verhoeven.
“Unfortunately we could not reach an agreement about some things,” said Vakhitov about the UFC offer. “When we received an offer and we saw the news of all Russian hunters who returned to Glory, and were given an offer to fight against Rico and possibly become a double champion, we very easily agreed.
“For the show, for good money, why not?”
Ngannou vs. Verhoeven could possibly happen at a later time. But with the intended return from Ngannou to Boxing, and with Verhoeven on the way to Vakhitov on Glory 100, the fight is not expected to take place soon.
Francis Ngannou Eyes Showdown with former boxing champion while he competitions for the first career gain
As far as Ngannou is concerned, he repeatedly plagued 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 for Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Verhoeven revealed that conversations with Ngannou at the 'halfway between' were at the negotiating table. Ngannou also discussed the Verhoeven fight in recent interviews.
Verhoeven was briefly omitted from the glory schedule for his upcoming heavyweight tournament when rumors Ngannou -Vecht interviews improved. But after Vakhitov's UFC departure, Glory offered the opportunity to give Verhoeven an opponent for his kickboxing comeback.
Ngannou has one more fight on his PFL contract against a opponent to be determined, but boxing now seems to be his top priority. A crossover fight with Verhoeven fell apart and could be revised along the line.
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