75+ kickboxing fights in career
Rico Verhoeven has had approximately 75 professional kickboxing fights, giving him a massive combat sports experience advantage over pure boxers.
Snapshot · The Joe Rogan Experience
JRE MMA Show #183 with Rico Verhoeven
Explore episode
Aug 4, 2026
Where this was said
UFC or Boxing? Rico's Free Agent Decision
At 1:03:15 · chapter starts 1:00:40
Rogan asks directly: is UFC still possible? Rico is candid [1] — Rico Verhoeven "The UFC did contact Rico and discussed a fight with Derrick Lewis, but the financial gap between boxing and UFC was simply too large. After…" 1:32:58 . The UFC contacted him and discussed a Derrick Lewis fight, but the money gap was always the problem — and after the Usyk performance, that gap has only grown larger. He also reveals that just two weeks before signing the Usyk deal, he had an MMA offer on the table to fight Francis Ngannou on the MVP card. The MMA offer kept improving. But he looked in the mirror and chose legacy over the easier money: a kickboxer winning a world heavyweight boxing title would be the greater achievement. Now that he has the boxing experience and the elevated profile, boxing makes complete sense as his lane. He acknowledges he'd need the right deal and the right fight, but the trajectory is clear.
The Pyramids, His Mother, and Full Circle
Rico's mother died during his fight camp. While clearing her house, his family found photos of her standing at the Egyptian pyramids from 30 years earlier — the exact fight venue he was preparing for. He made the same photos before the fight. Then he punched the ground and the pyramids lit up for the first time that night.
Similar snapshots
CrossFit athlete: top 2,000 worldwide
Thomas's wife is already ranked in the top 2,000 CrossFit athletes in the world — roughly the top 1% — and Thomas wants her to pursue the sport professionally now that he is graduating law school.
Athletes improve with mental rehearsal
Research shows athletes who mentally imagine practicing basketball or soccer have better performance than those who do not include imagination in their training.
~10 rounds dominated vs Usyk
Rico Verhoeven dominated approximately 10 of 12 rounds against undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk before a controversial post-bell stoppage.
Stopped after the bell
Rico's appeal confirmed the fight was stopped after the bell rang, and the ringside doctor found no concussion or disorientation — yet the result was never overturned.
Glory uses 5 judges vs boxing's 3
Glory Kickboxing uses 5 judges rather than boxing's 3, which Joe Rogan argues reduces the chance of a corrupt or incompetent minority swinging the result.
1 professional boxing match before Usyk
Rico Verhoeven had only one professional boxing match before fighting undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC title.
15 years of boxing training
Despite having just one pro boxing match, Rico Verhoeven had been training boxing for 15 years alongside his kickboxing career.
6-month boxing transition camp
Rico used a full 6 months to transition from kickboxing stance to a proper boxing stance under trainer Peter Fury, calling it essential rewiring.
Kickboxing is #2 sport in Netherlands
Rico Verhoeven claimed kickboxing is the second most popular sport in the Netherlands, behind only soccer, yet it remains almost non-existent in the American market.
