Tom Aspinall did not exactly sip tea and calmly process the ending of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven. The UFC heavyweight champion watched the controversial Glory In Giza finish, saw Verhoeven stopped at 2:59 of round 11, and immediately went nuclear on boxing after Rico Verhoeven’s planned appeal became the obvious next chapter.
Verhoeven, the longtime GLORY heavyweight king, had entered enemy territory against one of boxing’s cleanest technicians and somehow made the whole thing sweaty before the stoppage turned into the story. Usyk officially left Egypt with the TKO win, but the finish gave everyone a fresh reason to yell at their screens.
Watch Aspinall’s full reaction below:
Aspinall could not believe the referee jumped in with Verhoeven trying to survive the final seconds of the round.
“Oh, he stopped it? No f*cking way,” Aspinall said. “For a world title fight he stopped it with about five or six unanswered shots. What? Mate, what the f*cking hell is that? What a robbery. What a fix. That is outrageous.”
Aspinall Says Boxing Did Not Want Rico Verhoeven Winning
Aspinall then compared the stoppage to the recent Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois fight, arguing boxing allowed far more punishment there before calling it off.
“Two weeks ago, we were at Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois ringside,” Aspinall said. “That happened probably 10 times. Sent Fabio Wardley out there, big swollen eye on one side, nose squashed, big swelling on his forehead, been dropped five times in the fight, they sent him out for another round. Stopped it about three rounds too late. Rico gets stumbled to his knee, they let him up with 10 seconds left, he lands a few unanswered shots, and they don’t even let him make it to the end of the round? It’s a f*cking robbery. What the f*ck was that.”
That is why this one has bite. Verhoeven was not just some random crossover guy getting fed to a boxer for a highlight. He is a Dutch kickboxer, boxer, and mixed martial artist who became GLORY’s longest-reigning heavyweight champion and defended that title a record 13 times. His kickboxing record is listed at 66-10, and he entered the Usyk bout with only one previous pro boxing fight.
Usyk, meanwhile, is 25-0 as a professional boxer, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, and a former undisputed champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight. That is why Usyk surviving the Rico Verhoeven scare at Glory In Giza became more interesting than another clean Usyk masterclass.
Aspinall did not stop at the referee. He went straight at boxing’s food chain.
“Boxing don’t want anyone else to win, simple as that,” Aspinall said. “They want boxers with the amateur style, coming in, winning their Olympic medal, and then switching over and being unbeaten pros. That’s what they want. They don’t like other combat sports. It’s bullsh*t.”
Aspinall’s own résumé is why the clip hit harder than a random fan rant. He is the UFC heavyweight champion, owns a 15-3 MMA record, and has finished six of his eight UFC wins by the halfway point of the first round. He knows what a fighter looks like when he is gone.
Here is the shorter clip that spread after the fight:
‼️Tom Aspinall GOES OFF on boxing after the stoppage of Rico Verhoeven’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk
“They don’t even let him make it to the end of the round. It’s a fucking robbery. What the f**k is that? Boxing doesn’t want anyone else to win, simple as that”
via @AspinallMMA pic.twitter.com/Hp20too4yz
— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) May 24, 2026
Verhoeven now has a real argument to chase through an appeal. Usyk still has the official win, but the ending gave boxing another nasty headache, and Verhoeven’s pre-fight promise to bring something different looks a lot less crazy after how close this got.
