Francis Ngannou, as has been the case since he left the UFC, has options.

“The Predator” made a successful return to MMA and a successful PFL debut with a first-round knockout of Renan Ferreira this past Saturday at the Battle of the Giants event in Saudi Arabia. That performance came in the wake of two massive boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, making Ngannou one of the most intriguing names in all of combat sports.

What’s next for Ngannou is anyone’s guess, but one name throwing his hat into the ring is Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.

“I’ve been thinking about a crossover for quite some time now, so I love the idea,” Verhoeven said when Ngannou was suggested to him on The Ariel Helwani Show. “It’s a new challenge. Not that I’m done with challenges within Glory, but I’ve got an amazing win streak and title defense streak and earlier this year we won an amazing tournament but I’m open to new challenges. When we’re talking about the baddest on the planet, let’s find out who it is.”

Verhoeven has been one of the most dominant kickboxers of the past decade, having won 20 straight fights dating back to 2015, including 11 defenses of his Glory title. The 35-year-old Dutchman is currently scheduled for a championship rematch against Levi Rigters on Dec. 7.

Should Verhoeven be successful, he’ll be on the hunt for another marquee matchup and Ngannou more than fits the bill. They could meet under kickboxing or MMA rules, but Verhoeven has another suggestion in mind.

“There’s so many different flavors,” Verhoeven said. “It could be a home and away fight, a kickboxing and an MMA fight, which most likely ends up maybe 1-1. But a boxing match, that’s interesting, because that’s a way for both of us even though he’s been doing two boxing fights in the last year, but still it’s different and I’ve been boxing for quite some years as well. Not on a professional level, not in a ring, but been training with [Tyson Fury’s uncle] Peter Fury for years and years and he says, ‘You’re ready for it. Let any top-level boxer challenge you and let’s show what we got.’”

Verhoeven and Ngannou are familiar with each other, having spent time training together in the U.S., but both appear to be open to the potential matchup. In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Ngannou smiled when the fight was suggested and said, “Send me the deal.”

A crossover fight built around mutual respect might not seem like box office gold at first glance, but Verhoeven thinks it’s a fight fans need to see.

“What I would like to say to [PFL] is just, hey, when we’re talking about baddest on the planet and we’re talking about crossover fights: This thing must happen,” Verhoeven said. “This must happen. It has to happen because we’ve been seeing throughout the last few years the most crazy fights and I think this is one of them that needs to be added to the list. So let’s make it happen.”

TOP STORIES

Challenge. Max Holloway wants Ilia Topuria to earn his “BMF” point-down moment.

Undefeated. Does Khamzat Chimaev’s invincible mindset give him the edge over Robert Whittaker?

Boast. Ilia Topuria doesn’t just think he can beat Islam Makhachev: He wants to make him submit.

Poetry. Conor McGregor didn’t mince words with his description of PFL champion Johnny Eblen’s latest title defense.

Apology. BKFC star Mike Perry comments on his recent DUI arrest and confrontation with police.

Rematch. Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury brought the antics to the faceoff ahead of their December rematch.

VIDEO STEW

UFC 308 Timeline.

UFC 308 media day brought to you by MMA Fighting’s José Youngs.

PFL boss Donn Davis addresses the people.

All love.

Catch up on the latest and greatest Invicta FC prospects.

Usyk vs. Fury 2 press conference.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

No Bets Barred. Jed Meshew brings you the best bets for UFC 308.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Francis Ngannou.

BMF at work.

Fingers crossed.

Why, indeed.

BKFC video game?

Patchy Mix in grappling action this Saturday!

Tom Lawlor looking out for fighters.

Jake Hadley.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ngannou vs. Verhoeven? That’s not bad, right?

While I think we’d all agree that seeing Ngannou stick with MMA would be great, especially if Donn Davis is able to work out deals with other promoters to set up something like, Ngannou vs. Malykhin or Ngannou vs. Reug Reug or (let me dream) Ngannou vs. Pudzianowski, we can also get a little more creative. Ngannou adding a kickboxing champion to his résumé. I’m down for it.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 308 press conference features the entire main card from Saturday’s pay-per-view.

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, former UFC champions Max Holloway and Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev are some of the stars that will answer questions from the media Thursday morning.

The UFC 308 press conference is expected to begin at 8:30 a.m. ET.

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Fun fight
| BJPenn.com

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing spectacle is less than a month away, scheduled to stream live on Netflix on Fri., Nov. 15, 2024 from inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. There are serious concerns about the health of the 58-year-old long retired boxing champion, but like it or not, it’s likely to be the most-watched boxing match of the year.

Paul enters as the favorite, but the latest clip from Mike Tyson’s training camp for “The Problem Child” may change some hearts and minds. Tyson looks fast firing live combinations against his training partner, and a big left hook at the end sits his opponent down. “I got a lot in me,” a fired up Tyson exclaims. “I’m just getting started.”

The video garnered a strong reaction online and many sound confident that Jake Paul is due for an unplanned nap. It’s a good vote of confidence in “Iron” Mike, who revealed back in September that he was having difficulty walking ahead of his training camp. The match will be his first professionally sanctioned bout since June 2005.

As for Paul, he was last seen pummeling undersized bare knuckle star Mike Perry back in July. This match up remains in the usual Paul playbook of fighting an older athlete, but at least this time he won’t have a huge size advantage.

Insomnia

This is absolutely Tony Ferguson 101.

I like the creativity in these pillow exchanges.

All the best to the Fury family, this is awful.

Sam Alvey and not understanding things feels like an iconic duo.

How hard is this to accomplish?

I am continually impressed by Ilia Topuria’s boxing, but Nick Diaz may not be.

Cameron Smotherman had to pull a “veteran move” to make his UFC debut happen, but it paid off!

I get that Dana White hates the idea of an open air venue in South Africa for exactly this reason, but could you imagine how funny a Dricus Du Plessis fight would be in similar circumstance?!?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Amirzhanov would appear to have the perfect build for hitting ninja chokes.

A lovely 1-1-2.

I don’t know what the rules were, but it’s nice to see Sumo get a win in combat sports.

Random Land

I pray for the chance to write a final sentence like this.

Midnight Music: Hip-hop, 1991

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

That “Shara Bullet” has competed with an eye injury for years is no secret, and he’s found himself drawing inspiration from a former UFC champion to work through it.

Bullet—a.k.a. Shara Magomedov—opens this Saturday’s UFC 308 main card in Abu Dhabi with a middleweight duel against Armen Petrosyan. At Wednesday’s media day for the event, Magomedov was asked about what he’s learned from studying the career of former UFC champion and Hall of Fame inductee Michael Bisping, in regards to dealing with the injury he’s had since 2016.

Bisping suffered an eye injury after taking a head kick from Vitor Belfort in 2013 and competed with a handicap until his retirement four years later. The condition didn’t stop him from winning the UFC middleweight title, even though it eventually progressed to the point that Bisping now lives with a prosthetic right eye.

So is Magomedov concerned about opponents knowing about this potential limitation?

“I think it’s a little different because I have 19 fights in my career and every opponent has tried to take advantage of that and it didn’t go their way,” Magomedov said via a Russian translator.

“When it comes to Bisping, yes, he is a motivation because he’s somebody who has went down this path already. He’s laid down the path and he set an example for me, so it’s much easier to follow somebody’s path as opposed to wander around in the dark. I think the way he is a motivator for me and for other people is he said that everything is possible. The most important thing is not to let your hands down and keep on going forward and keep on chasing your dream and then it’s possible.”

Magomedov joined the UFC in 2023 with plenty of buzz, having competed in both MMA and kickboxing, and entered the octagon with an 11-0 record before defeating his first three opponents for the promotion. Following a decision win over Michal Oleksiejczuk this past August, Magomedov made a curious callout of Nick Diaz, a 41-year-old fan favorite currently scheduled to fight Vicente Luque at UFC 310.

He explained his reasoning behind the matchup suggestion and also addressed the possibility of fighting two-division fighter Kevin Holland.

“When it comes to Nick Diaz, that was kind of a shot in the air,” Magomedov said. “He’s not on a level, he’s not ready to compete for title fights and things like that, so he’s not where it needs to be.

“When it comes to Kevin Holland, I think I’ll get to him one day. I think that I will do whatever I have to do to get to his level and to fight him, and I think we’ll see who’s tougher. I think we’ll do a lot of damage for each other and whoever’s bones are stronger, he’s going to be the one standing last.”

If Magomedov is to continue his climb up the middleweight charts, he has to get past Petrosyan, a clever kickboxer that has proven to be a tough out in the division. Magomedov has trained with Petrosyan in the past so he knows him well, but that doesn’t mean he knows what to expect on fight night.

“To be honest, it’s not like I’m preparing some things inside my head that I’m going to come out with and I’m going to show and I’m going to do,” Magomedov said. “I don’t even know what’s going to happen. I think any spark that happens, any kind of flash that happens inside the octagon is very exciting. I don’t even know really what to expect from myself, so I think that’s the interesting part is that anything can happen on the night of.”

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Max Holloway is just days away from his highly anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 308, where he will face Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title. As the fight draws near, Holloway has dismissed Topuria’s attempts at trash talk, comparing the rising contender to Conor McGregor, who became famous for his pre-fight bravado and ability to back it up once the cage door closed.

Topuria has made bold statements about Holloway, but the former champion remains unfazed. One particular claim from Topuria was his promise to initiate a throwdown in the center of the Octagon within the first 10 seconds of the fight. Holloway, however, isn’t convinced that Topuria will follow through on this promise.

Copycat Accusations

Holloway didn’t hold back when criticizing Topuria’s approach, calling him a “copycat” of McGregor.

“It just makes no sense,” Holloway said. “To me, I don’t think he deserves it—you’ve got to earn that right. I don’t think he deserves it. I mean, you guys know who he’s copying. This guy is a copycat down to his tattoos, to his aura, to the way he approaches fights.”

Holloway went on to say, “I think the moment needs to be earned, and he’s just trying to steal stuff. He’s already trying to steal one person’s aura, and now he’s trying to steal someone else’s thing.”

Continue Reading Max Holloway: ‘Copycat’ Ilia Topuria Is Trying To Steal Conor McGregor’s Aura at MMA News.

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