For many years, the UFC had a monopoly in the world of MMA. But the development will probably go in a different direction. Of course, most of the best fighters still work there, but there is also a growing number of those who reject the offers, because they are simply not worth it financially. In this direction, the UFC competes in particular with the PFL, which received a financial transfer from Saudi Arabia and can thus afford to offer interesting fighters more lucrative rewards. Fighters are also attracted by greater freedom, thanks to which they can participate in matches in other disciplines as well.
Francis Ngannou also moved from the UFC to the PFL, moreover, as the then champion. Something unheard of until then. After an expedition into the world of boxing, he finally showed up in the PFL cage last weekend and reminded the world that he truly is one of the best fighters in the world.
But the promoters now face the difficult task of finding him another interesting challenger. Of course, fans would be interested in a fight with Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall, but both are under contract with the UFC, which has no reason to cooperate with the competition.
On Ariel Helwani’s show, Ngannou revealed that he would like to return to action in the second quarter of next year. As a possible opponent in MMA, he mentioned Ante Delia, who appeared as a substitute for his duel with Ferreira. But Francis believes that there is also a chance for a duel with Jones, because he is interested in the influential promoter Turki Alalshikh, who, according to the Cameroonian fighter, can resist little. Another boxing match is also planned.
Helwani then sowed the seeds for another very interesting fight. “I pitched the kickboxing champion Ric Verhoeven. Kickboxing versus MMA in boxing. I heard the GLORY organization would be interested.”
Ngannou replied that he knew the Dutchman, they had trained together in the past. But they are not friends to such an extent that they refuse to wrestle with each other. “Send me the contract,” he said with a smile.
“I like that idea,” responded Verhoeven, who has won the last 20 matches and, like Francis, he also lacks interesting opponents. “It’s a new challenge. Not that I don’t have any in GLORY, but I have a great streak of wins and title defenses. I won an amazing pyramid this year, but I’m open to challenges. And speaking of who’s the toughest in the world, let’s find out.”
“There are several variants of how it could be. One fight in kickboxing, one in MMA, which would most likely end 1-1. But a boxing match would be interesting because it’s not a sport for either of us.’
Talking about this superfight is a bit preliminary, because Verhoeven has another title defense waiting for him on December 7. The challenger will be Levi Rigters. Rico already met this in April this year in the final of the eight-person pyramid, and it was a big drama in the end. What will it look like if they meet this time without going through two games before?
