Francis Ngannou invokes boxing "outsiders" theory after Rico Verhoeven's controversial loss Saturday
Francis Ngannou weighed in on Rico Verhoeven's polarizing defeat against Oleksandr Usyk, while the kickboxing legend adopted an unemotional approach as he seeks a rematch.
Francis Ngannou and Rico Verhoeven are no strangers, having trained with each other in the past. In the aftermath of Verhoeven's controversial stoppage defeat against boxing legend Oleksandr Usyk, Ngannou has seemingly directed a few supportive words toward him.
Verhoeven, who's hailed as a kickboxing great and is a former Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion, recently competed in the second professional boxing match of his career. He took on WBA, WBC, IBF, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titlist Usyk at the historic 'Glory in Giza' event on May 23, 2026.
Much to the surprise of many fans and critics, Verhoeven was able to match the experienced pugilist's boxing skills in the razor-close fight. However, Usyk rallied and knocked him down toward the end of the 11th round. He followed up with a vicious barrage of punches, and the referee waved off the match at the end of the round and awarded Usyk the 11th-round TKO win.
It sparked a debate as to whether the boxing referee stopped the fight prematurely, and whether he could've allowed them to continue to the 12th and final round of the match to determine a decisive winner.
Francis Ngannou cites boxing "outsiders" theory after Rico Verhoeven's loss to Oleksandr Usyk
Former UFC heavyweight champion and ex-PFL super fights heavyweight titlist Francis Ngannou has competed twice in the sport of professional boxing, going 0-2 in the sport. He debuted with a split decision defeat against Tyson Fury in 2023 and then suffered a knockout loss against Anthony Joshua in 2024.
Intriguingly, his maiden appearance inside the squared circle witnessed him knock Fury down, albeit still suffering a controversial split decision loss in that fight. Many fans argued that "The Predator" was more deserving of the victory on the judges' scorecards -- with some even asserting that the boxing system is allegedly biased against outsiders in the sport, i.e., against athletes coming from other combat sports backgrounds.
On that note, the Cameroon-born MMA star has now alluded to his clash against Fury, seemingly drawing parallels between the supposed bias that the boxing system exhibits against "outsiders."
Taking to X, Ngannou wrote, "Outsiders will never win, trust me I know, but Rico was the winner tonight. Period." The post notably comprised an image of Ngannou and Verhoeven training together.
Outsiders will never win, trust me I know, but Rico was the winner tonight. Period. pic.twitter.com/4QojrxYX2X
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) May 23, 2026
Rico Verhoeven seemingly adopts unemotional approach while seeking rematch against Oleksandr Usyk
On one hand, Francis Ngannou and a number of netizens have expressed their outrage over the controversial ending to the Usyk vs. Verhoeven boxing matchup. On the other hand, Verhoeven appears to have taken a rather unemotional approach while calling for a rematch against the Ukrainian boxer.
In an Instagram post, the kickboxing savant posted images of the three official judges' scorecards -- wherein two judges scored the fight even at 95-95, and one had it 96-94 in favor of Verhoeven, after 10 rounds.
The statement in his post included a reference to Saudi Arabian boxing promoter, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, who played a significant role in helping his fight against Usyk materialize. Verhoeven's statement read, "Leave emotions out of it. Read the cards. One second left heading into the 12th and final round. Onwards and upwards! Respect to @usykaa, it was an honor to share the ring with you. Let's run it back! @turki."
