Rico Verhoeven likes to keep a close-knit group of training partners around him when he’s preparing for fights and that team has included Tom Aspinall for the past couple of years.
While Verhoeven is recognized as arguably the greatest kickboxer in the world, he’s never crossed over to MMA, but he’s always praised Aspinall for helping him during his training camps and he returns the favor whenever the UFC interim heavyweight champion needs him. Even now, with Aspinall stuck in limbo while awaiting word on a potential fight against Jon Jones, he still helped prepare Verhoeven to defend his GLORY heavyweight title against Artem Vakhitov on Saturday in the Netherlands.
“It’s a brotherhood,” Verhoeven told MMA Fighting. “The circle we have is really, really small. Everybody that’s in the team is like family. The same with Hughie Fury and Peter Fury, it’s family. So even if they don’t have a fight, the come over and they help us. Same with Tom. I don’t have a fight, I come over and help him, the other way around, the same thing. We call, we pick up for each other, we have each other’s backs, no matter what.
“I understand for other people, he’s Tom Aspinall! For me, he’s just Tom. He’s my brother. He’s my friend. I appreciate and I love him. He’s the best, the sweetest and the kindest guy. He’s so humble. So warmhearted and the only thing you can be thankful. Thankful that you have these people in your life and that are always open to help you. That’s that.”
While Verhoeven is just a day away from defending his GLORY title, Aspinall is still holding out hope the UFC can convince Jones to fight him in what could be the biggest heavyweight fight in the promotion’s history. UFC CEO Dana White remains adamant he’ll eventually get a deal done to book Jones vs. Aspinall before the years is over, but there’s still no word when that might actually happen.
Verhoeven hopes the fight gets finalized and he’ll be right there beside Aspinall helping him get ready to take on the athlete most universally recognized as the best to ever do it in MMA. No one can deny Jones’ credentials as a multi-time champion in the UFC but Verhoeven believes Aspinall has more than enough to finally hand Jones the first legitimate loss of his career — and he expects it to happen in violent fashion.
“He’s going to wipe the floor with Jon Jones,” Verhoeve said. “Jon Jones doesn’t have a chance versus Tom Aspinall. Mark my words. Tom Aspinall is a freaking monster. On his feet and on the ground.
“I truly believe Jon Jones has never faced somebody that is that good on his feet. On the ground, he’s faced some guys that are pretty good. But on the feet, I think Tom, he would even do good in the kickboxing ring. He would be a top competitor to fight me as well. So I love it.”
Verhoeven credits Aspinall as a tremendous part of his preparation, especially because the 32-year-old heavyweight doesn’t come after him with the same kind of technique as a traditional kickboxer.
“In the right way without my words being twisted, he’s awkward,” Verhoeven said. “Because he’s not a kickboxer, he doesn’t come with standard kickboxing combinations and that makes it difficult. That’s what I mean he’s awkward in a good way. That makes it challenging.
“He’s explosive and he’s smart and his fight IQ is high. That’s why I always love to have him over and work with him.”
As Aspinall continues to cement his own legacy in the UFC, Verhoeven just recently celebrated a remarkable milestone of his own after surpassing 4,000 days as GLORY heavyweight champion.
He admits was gobsmacked when saw that number because it seems unreal that he’s been holding and defending his title for that long.
“It’s a long, long ass time,” Verhoeven said with a laugh. “I was also blown away. When you’re in it, it just flows but 4,000 days. Wow, what an accomplishment.”
So what exactly does he credit most for his longevity at the top of the sport?
“For me, it’s just trying to the best version of me every time and be my own biggest critic,” Verhoeven said. “Everybody knows, that’s what the whole team does. It’s how we look at the whole fighting game. We just want to improve. We just want to get better. There’s always room to improve.
“If you keep thinking that, if you keep minding that, if you keep focusing on that specific part, you keep growing, you keep getting better and one day you’re 4,000 days further.”
If he beats Vakhitov on Saturday, Verhoeven adds yet another former champion to his résumé and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down any time soon.
It’s almost impossible to argue against Verhoeven as the top kickboxer in the world right now and many believe he’s already established himself as the greatest of all time. It’s a label Verhoeven would never bestow upon himself, but he certainly appreciate anybody who thinks that about him.
“All I can do is be thankful, be grateful but like I said, it’s not up to me,” Verhoeven said. “I know that what I’m doing, I’m doing with passion, I’m doing with love and I’m having fun while doing it. That’s the most important thing. The only thing you can hope for is people appreciate what you do. That’s it.
“But it’s not up to me to say in my opinion, I think I’m the greatest kickboxer ever. Because everybody has different statistics or different ways to categorize their best or the greatest. It’s not up to me but the moment when people say it, it’s a huge, huge compliment. The only thing you can do is be thankful for it because what we try to do, we try to entertain people.”
