UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou confirmed he wants to fight Tyson Fury.
Fury, boxing’s WBC heavyweight king, has previously said he wants the fight in 2023, but it looks more likely it will take place in the ring rather than the octagon.
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Ngannou took on Cyril Gane in his last outing and won by unanimous decision
“It can be in a phonebooth or wherever, that fight will happen.” Ngannou said on his YouTube channel.
“Obviously he will not come to the MMA, that’s not something that could happen. He would get killed.”
Ngannou is currently in a contract dispute with the UFC, adding in the video post: “They have to take me seriously.”
UFC legend, Georges St-Pierre echoed this sentiment in an interview with MMA hour.
‘I’m telling him as a friend,” the Hall of Famer said. “He needs to get paid to his value. And if he’s not satisfied with what the UFC gives him, go get your service somewhere else where they’re gonna pay you well, because he’s not young.”
St-Pierre also chimed in on the idea of Ngannou fighting Fury.
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Fury stopped Wilder in a classic to retain his WBC heavyweight and bring an end to one of boxing’s great trilogies
“Fury has boxed all his life, so the odds will go towards Fury in a boxing match. Of course they will never fight in MMA because Francis will crush him in under 30 seconds, but I’m just afraid that if he steps into boxing, maybe he’s gonna get the punch. Sometimes, that stuff can break a career.
“He can do whatever he wants. And if you look at him, all his life, the odds were always against him and he always made it. So maybe he’s gonna knock out Tyson Fury and I don’t know what I’m talking about. Who knows? I wish him the best.”
UFC heavyweight, Tom Aspinall, also believes Fury would come out on top against Ngannou if it’s contested in a boxing ring, despite describing the Cameroonian as ‘an absolute beast, freak of nature and the most dangerous man to ever fight in the UFC’.
“It depends on the rules,” Aspinall told talkSPORT.
“If it’s boxing then Tyson’s going to win, if it’s MMA, Francis is going to win. I know there’s been some talk of a hybrid fight, but it’s as simple as that.
“If you play football with a footballer they’re going to beat you, if you play rugby with a rugby player they’re going to beat you, it’s as simple as that. So, it depends what discipline they go for in terms of who is going to win.”
For the time being, however, Fury’s focus is solely on his upcoming world title clash with Dillian Whyte, as the British heavyweights are set to meet at Wembley Stadium on April 23.
The fight will be live on talkSPORT.
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