Tyson Fury recently said he hopes to fight in a MMA bout and that he’s talked to Conor McGregor about getting him ready for it. But, Dana White seems pretty, pretty convinced that the boxing heavyweight champ should stay in his lane.
Fury’s comments about MMA
Prior to Fury’s recent performance for the WWE, the decorated pugilist turned heads throughout combat sports, by saying he wants to compete in a MMA bout. Further, the 31-year-old said he might do so in the near future. The timing of the comments also caught people off guard, since there are some potentially, massive fights in boxing on the horizon for Fury, including a rematch with Deontay Wilder.
White weighs-in on Fury’s plans
Well, recently White was asked by TMZ Sports to respond to Fury’s comments, and the UFC President said this (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“Tyson Fury is a very marketable heavyweight; I believe he’s one of the best in the world, the top four right now,” White said. “He’s an incredible fighter, and promoted the right way, could be a part of three or four of the biggest fights in heavyweight history. Why come over here and get smashed?”
“Tyson Fury, your time is now,” White added. “You’re the man in boxing. You’re one of the top four guys in the world in boxing. Why even think about coming over here?”
“Listen, anything is possible,” White said. “If Tyson Fury wants to fight in MMA, I got a ton of guys that would love to fight him. I just don’t know why. I can’t wrap my head around why, and I shouldn’t be saying – I should be saying, ‘Oh, yeah, we love Tyson Fury. Bring him over,’ and all this (expletive), but now I’m looking at both sports. Three years ago, before I was looking at boxing, I’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah, send me Tyson Fury. I love it.’”
As noted above, the timing of Fury’s comments were pretty surprising. White’s right: Fury is ridiculously marketable, talented and there’s some huge bouts for him in the boxing world (in addition to the Wilder rematch, there’s the possibility of him facing Andy Ruiz Jr. or Anthony Joshua).
Further, there’s the fact that transitioning from boxing to MMA is no cakewalk. You would think Fury wouldn’t be matched up against a top tier grappler in his first MMA bout. But, in addition to takedowns, there’s kicks, elbows, a cage, among many other factors Fury would need to adjust to.
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