Francis Ngannou was not just fighting to become champion in his PFL debut. It was a fight that had a bigger purpose and he was doing it for his son Kobe who had passed away at 15 months old. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion channeled all his grief and dedicated the night to his son and made history by winning against Renan Ferreira.

Interestingly he showed once again that the proverb, “When one door closes another one opens,” is indeed true. After parting ways with the UFC because of contract discrepancies, he was not getting a call from any other MMA promotion. But then the PFL appeared and now after dominating in his first outing, ‘The Predator’ has already got another offer in line.

According to MMA Orbit, “GLORY kickboxing CEO Marshall Zelaznik has told  @arielhelwani that he’d be open to conversations with the PFL about making a fight between Rico Verhoeven and Francis Ngannou.” The duo have had interactions in the past and Verhoeven not only trained with him but also called him for a boxing match. So this fight might materialize!

Given Francis Ngannou’s recent victory in his PFL debut, a potential rematch with Rico Verhoeven, the reigning Glory Kickboxing Heavyweight Champion, has become a highly anticipated matchup. The two fighters have a history, with Verhoeven expressing interest in a boxing match against Ngannou even before the latter departed from the UFC.

Interestingly, before UFC 270, the ex-UFC heavyweight champion’s team had even brought in the kickboxing legend for training. Xtreme Couture’s head coach Eric Nicksick divulged on Instagram that Verhoeven was training with Ngannou in preparation for Ciryl Gane.

So clearly they are already more than acquaintances and know each other’s fighting styles to the core. So this fight might be exciting to see and could already be on the cards. However, if the duo had trained together in the past, then why did Verhoeven call ‘The Predator’ out?

Rico Verhoeven wanted a boxing match with Francis Ngannou but why?

While chitchatting with ‘AA’, Rico Verhoeven talked about crossover events. He showed enthusiasm in facing Francis Ngannou and stated, “You know about those Crossover things, You shouldn’t answer, but yes, otherwise I’ll ask someone Ngannou for example who is now on float between boxing or kickboxing I would do it but not MMA is just a completely different sport so eh in boxing kickboxing none problem”

Verhoeven is the reigning gold standard at heavyweight in Glory FC and has a record of 60-10, with 20 knockouts. On the other hand, ‘The Predator’ has already enjoyed the position of heavyweight champion at UFC, and now has found success in his PFL debut. Along with that, he has 17 victories in his MMA career. Ngannou was on a winning streak when he left the UFC and had defeated legends like Cain Velasquez, Stipe Miocic, and Junior Dos Santos.

Both are amazing HW fighters and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. So this matchup between the Glory Kickboxing Champion and our very own ex-UFC Heavyweight Champ would be very interesting to witness. What are your views on this potential match-up? Tell us in the comment section below!