Glory superstar Rico Verhoeven sends a message to Francis Ngannou about possible crossover fight: “This must happen!”

Glory heavyweight kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven has a crossover fight with former UFC champ Francis Ngannou at the top of his fighting priority list.

Ngannou defeated 2023 PFL heavyweight title winner Renan Ferreira in the Battle of the Giants main event last Saturday in Riyadh. He made his long-awaited return to MMA to make his PFL debut, finishing Ferreira in the first round by ground and pound.

After defeating Ferreira, Ngannou has plenty of options in MMA and boxing for his next combat sports challenge. One of which is a possible super fight with Verhoeven, which was pitched during a recent sitdown with Ariel Helwani.

Ngannou’s interest in facing Verhoeven was prominent. Just hours later, Verhoeven made his case for negotiations to move forward.

Rico Verhoeven is all-in on Francis Ngannou fight in MMA, kickboxing, or boxing

During a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Verhoeven responded to Ngannou’s stance on a potential super fight.

“What I would like to say to them is just, I think when we’re talking about ‘Baddest on the Planet’, and we’re talking about crossover fights, this must happen!” Verhoeven said. “It hasn’t happened because we’ve done the most crazy fights, and this is one of them that needs to be added to the list. So let’s make it happen!

“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.”

Verhoeven has one professional MMA fight on his record, a first-round knockout at RXF 20 in 2015. He’ll defend his Glory heavyweight kickboxing title against Levi Rigters on December 7th.

Verhoven vs. Ngannou would be electric. Two of the most powerful strikers in the world would go head-to-head and would intrigue fans from multiple fighting disciplines.

The PFL has proven it’s open to making the biggest fights happen, as long as both sides come to the table. It appears that the league might have an unprecedented crossover fight on its potential 2025 event slate.