Tyson Fury has been informed that his offer to fight against Francis Ngannou is a horrible idea, after the former UFC heavyweight champion departed the organization to pursue new chances.
Before leaving the organization due to failure to reach an agreement on a new contract, Cameroonian star Ngannou established himself as one of the top names in combat sports with a 17-3-0 record. In the process, he became the first UFC champion in active competition to depart the organization since BJ Penn in 2004.
While factors like health insurance coverage and sponsorship agreements contributed to his decision to leave the firm, there are still opportunities for highly profitable deals as a free agent. In April at Wembley, he squared off against Fury, teasing fans ahead of a potential fight with Anthony Joshua also on the table.
But this week, former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen mocked the notion of Fury and Ngannou fighting under unique rules. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he blasted the notion of a mixed-rules match as absurd.
“I see Tyson Fury come out over the weekend and finally clear up first what we’re going to do first with Francis,” Sonnen said. “They’ve always said they’re going to make up a sport. These two were going to do a game, but they were going to do something combat related. For reasons unknown, they weren’t going to box. Francis offered to box, and for reasons unknown, Tyson did not accept that invitation, and they were going to make up rules.
“Tyson finally laid out for us what they are. They were going to fight in a cage. I have no idea why. They’re going to fight in a cage. OK, fine. They’re going to wear four-once gloves. I have no idea why, but OK, fine. They are then going to follow boxing rules, the rules of Queensbury. …
“I put this out there because of how disappointing it is to see these boxers as beggars. Guys that are hot to fight to go out there and get it on your own, that have physical capabilities that other men can only dream of. But they don’t know how to go out there and get it on their own.
“They just don’t know how. I bring it to you because to watch Tyson Fury beg, it was surprising. I don’t want to call it disappointing. It was really close to calling it that, but I don’t want to call it that. So Tyson comes to us with perhaps the dumbest idea in sports history. He knows it is.”
It has not always gone well for UFC fighters transitioning to boxing with Conor McGregor defeated by Floyd Mayweather in 2017 before Jake Paul defeated a string of UFC fighters, starting with Ben Askren and continuing with victories over Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva.