Turki Alalshikh: Rico Verhoeven to face Anthony Joshua in 2026 after Departure From GLORY
As per rumours, former GLORY heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven will face British professional boxer Anthony Joshua in 2026.
Verhoeven vacated his GLORY heavyweight title after 12 years as champion, but has not announced his retirement. The Dutch kickboxer has 13 title defenses on his resume. As per rumours, there have been talks about him joining the UFC. The 36-year-old is friends with UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Vechtsport Info on X broke the news that Rico Verhoeven will face Anthony Joshua in February 2026. The post by Vechtsport reads:
“The rumour has it Apparently, Rico Verhoeven will face Anthony Joshua in Feb 2026 👀?? Arranged by mysterious Saudi boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh… On Jason Statham’s advice?! Statham’ is a friend of Verhoeven🎬🥊”
In the video posted by Vechtsport, Turki Alalshikh said:
“My friend [Jason Statham] gave me an idea. In Vegas in September. This will be a surprise. We signed with a fighter from his side to fight [Anthony] Joshua in Feb [2026], in my country.”
Check out Turki Alalshikh’s comments below:
Joshua is currently preparing to box Jake Paul on December 19.
Ariel Helwani wants Rico Verhoeven to move to MMA
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani revealed that Rico Verhoeven has recently held talks with several promotions, including the UFC, as per Helwani’s sources, and he thinks that for Verhoeven, a “move to MMA would be huge.”
Helwani posted on X:
“My two cents: a Rico move to MMA would be huge for him and the sport, considering the state of heavyweight MMA. And I think he’d be quite successful. Worth noting: he is a good friend and training partner of Tom Aspinall.”
However, former Glory light heavyweight champion Artem Vakhitov, who has previously trained and also fought with Rico Verhoeven, revealed in another interview that Verhoeven told him previously that he does not like MMA:
“I don’t think Verhoeven will move to the UFC. His friend Tom Aspinall is the champion there right now. It seems he received a more interesting offer from the PFL. Possibly a fight with Ngannou. It’s not yet known which discipline he will pursue – maybe MMA, maybe boxing as well. When I trained and sparred with him, he told me that he doesn’t really like MMA. So, perhaps he will either switch to boxing, or he was offered fights that are impossible to refuse. He has prospects in everything. He is a great kickboxer, one of the most dominant in Glory history.” [h/t: Telecomasia.net]
