Rico Verhoeven admits the offer to join the UFC was a good one.
After Verhoeven became a free agent after ending his deal with GLORY kickboxing, the UFC was after the elite striker. Yet, Verhoeven shocked many when he ended up inking a deal to box Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC heavyweight champion.
It’s a stunning fight, and Verhoeven said the UFC offer was a good one, but they offered him to face Derrick Lewis in his debut. However, Verhoeven said he wanted a bigger challenge, which is why he took the boxing fight, which was originally going to be Anthony Joshua.
“It was decent. It was a decent offer,” Verhoeven said on “The Ariel Helwani Show” (via MMAJunkie). “But like I said, you just put the two next to each other. A big crossover fight vs. Anthony Joshua with also a serious paycheck, as well – or a crossover to the UFC, which is different. Derrick Lewis is an amazing fighter.
“He’s a good name within the UFC but he doesn’t get that stature that I’m looking for. I don’t know. It was a good ‘coming-in’ fight for transitioning to the UFC. But I was like, ‘Nah, let’s go for the Anthony Joshua fight.’ So that’s what happened.”
Rico Verhoeven said UFC showed respect in contract offer
Although Verhoeven didn’t sign with the UFC, he said the pay was more than fair.
But, due to his success in kickboxing, Verhoeven felt like he had to box as it made more sense for him.
One-hundred percent,” Verhoeven said. “… It was getting close. … It was a decent offer. I see so much stuff on the internet. That is definitely not true. Like, oh, the UFC just came in and said, ‘Rico is a no-name, so we’ll just give him a bullsh*t offer.’
“They definitely did not do that. They treated me with a lot of respect and gave me a really decent offer, especially in terms of what they offer other fighters. I really felt that. But within the sport of martial arts in general and what I made within GLORY, I’m just like, ‘It doesn’t make too much sense for me.’”
Rico Verhoeven is 1-0 as a pro boxer, but his debut came in 2014. As for kickboxing, Verhoeven was GLORY’s longest-reigning heavyweight champion, while also defending the title a record thirteen times.
Do you think Rico Verhoeven made the right choice?