Francis Ngannou reacts to Tyson Fury’s call for a mixed rules match: ‘We all need this fight’
Francis Ngannou is ready to sign on the dotted line for a fight with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Formerly the UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou walked away from a contract that would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the promotion’s 30-year history. Instead, ‘The Predator’ will focus on testing his mettle in the sweet science and it’s looking like ‘The Gypsy King’ will be the man to greet him inside the squared circle. Fury recently called for a mixed-rules fight with Ngannou during an interview with Seconds Out.
“You [Francis Ngannou] want to earn some big boy money? Come see the Gypsy King and let’s do a big, big fight for the baddest mother f*cker on the planet. Let’s kick it up spicy, in a cage, four-ounce gloves under Queensbury [rules] and let’s have a bada** referee like ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. Did I just sell that to the world?”
After Two Years of Talk, Francis Ngannou is Ready to Make a Fight With Tyson Fury a Reality
It’s far from the first time the two heavy hitters have expressed interest in scrapping with one another, but ‘The Predator’ hopes that their desire to throw hands with one another with go beyond social media and become reality.
“Let me remind you that Tyson Fury and I have been warming up on social media for more than two years,” Ngannou said in an interview with Canal Afrique. Obviously, we all need this fight. It’s been long enough. Hopefully we have the possibility of dotting the i’s” (Transcribed by MMA News)
Capturing the UFC heavyweight championship with a second-round knockout of Stipe Miocic at UFC 260, Francis Ngannou spent the next year engaging in a very public contract dispute with the promotion. He returned to the Octagon at UFC 270 and successfully defended his title against Ciryl Gane. Following the fight, it was revealed that ‘The Predator’ needed to undergo knee surgery that would keep him on the shelf for the majority of the following year. During that time, Ngannou and the UFC were unable to come to terms on a new contract leaving UFC president Dana White no choice, but to part ways with the Cameroonian heavyweight and strip him of the heavyweight title in the process.
With the heavyweight throne empty, former light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones will return this March to challenge No. 1 ranked heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane to crown a new king of the division.
