Francis Ngannou backed by Conor McGregor ahead of Tyson Fury fight: ‘I’m happy for him, anything can happen’
Ahead of his boxing debut against WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury in October, former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou has received the backing of former two-weight gold holder, Conor McGregor – who admitted he is “happy” for the Cameroonian veteran.
Slated to make a professional boxing debut later this year, Ngannou, a recent acquisition of the PFL (Professional Fighters League) following his departure from the UFC back in January of this year, is booked to fight Morecambe native, Fury over the course of 10 rounds on October 28. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Yet to compete since he headlined UFC 270 back in January of last year in Anaheim, California, Francis Ngannou managed to successfully unify the heavyweight crowns against then-interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane, defeating the Frenchman with a unanimous decision win.
Conor McGregor backs Francis Ngannou in upcoming boxing debut
And according to the aforenoted, McGregor – who initially backed the UFC in their negotiation fallout with the Batié native, claimed he was not “happy” for the former heavyweight champion after striking a reportedly lucrative boxing outing with champion, Fury.
“I’m interested, let’s see how it goes,” Conor McGregor said of a Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury fight during an interview with Adam Glyn. “I’ve not heard much about it but I’m happy for Ngannou, fair play to him. What weight is Tyson? Is he in shape? Anything can happen in there, so I wish them both well and I’m excited to see it.”
Furthermore, off the back of the booking of a bout between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight championship challenger, Chael Sonnen criticized the boxing world champion for taking on the veteran, labelling him a “scumbag” and a “bully”.a
“What kind of a scumbag is (Tyson) Fury, though, man?” Sonnen explained. “I really gotta tell you, Fury broke my heart. I liked this guy, and I liked the entertainment. I like so many things about him. You take a guy like Fury, who God made huge, gave great coaches, great training partners, great experiences, too. He has weapons and tools that other men can’t deal with if they’re not armed.”
“And he’s going to choose to use those to beat up a guy who’s at least 37 with no experience and is on one leg. That’s a bully, and it’s a scumbag. I would never do that to somebody. Jesse James made a lot of money, and there’s hitmen that made a lot of money. I mean, there’s things that you can do, but you own it. You’re a bully, and you’re a scumbag.”
