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A month or so after UFC commentator Joe Rogan shared his thoughts on what would happen to Tyson Fury if he fought Jon Jones, it appears as though the fight could actually happen. Featured on a live Twitter Space with FoxifyTrade recently, Fury revealed he received an offer from the UFC for a ‘hybrid fight’ against Jones.
“I’ve been in talks with Francis Ngannou for a hybrid fight,” said Fury (H/T Oscar Willis of The Mac Life). “There’s talks of me and Jon Jones doing a hybrid fight as we [speak] right now. I received an offer from the UFC yesterday, so you never know what’s going to happen. The future’s bright, for sure, and there’s a lot of options out there.”
Tyson Fury vs. Jon Jones is…real?
The offer comes days after UFC president Dana White expressed interest in getting a deal done on Fury vs. Jones.
“The offer is out there,” said White at the UFC Vegas 74 post-fight press conference (video provided by MMA Junkie). “If you want to do it in the UFC — I know he was messing around with MMA for a little while there — let’s do it. Let’s answer the question. But these guys [in the UFC] aren’t boxing. Listen, if you want the fight, if you want the title of baddest man on the planet, let’s do it. I’m in.
“…We could all talk about this forever, but there’s only one way to find out,” continued White. “Let’s do it. I’m willing to do it. Tyson can call me himself. He has my number, we have a good relationship, or Tyson’s people can call me and we’ll get it done.”
White and Co. are apparently one step closer to getting it done, and Jones hopes they do.
“I would love it if Dana could make that fight happen,“ said Jones on the red carpet of Flanker Kitchen + Sports Bar recently (H/T MMA Fighting). “That‘s one thing about the UFC, we always give the fans what they want to see. Tyson Fury is just such a magnificent opponent and it‘d be awesome to make that fight happen. I‘m up for it. I‘d even be willing to box him. Let‘s see what happens.“
Another hybrid fight with Francis Ngannou
As Tyson Fury revealed, he is still trying to get a hybrid fight against Francis Ngannou, the newly signed PFL fighter who has previously tried to get in the ring with the ‘Gypsy King’ prior to his departure from the UFC. During ongoing negotiations with his previous promotion, the ‘Predator’ wanted a special clause in his new contract that would allow him to box against Fury.
Fury and Ngannou even appeared in the ring together after the former defeated Dillian Whyte via sixth-round TKO to retain his WBC championship. At the time, the 34-year-old announced his retirement (which was short-lived), but revealed he could be coaxed out of it by a hybrid fight ‘in a cage, with four-ounce gloves under Queensbury [rules]’ against the former UFC champion.
Since then, Fury and Ngannou have flirted with a fight, but nothing is set in stone.
Other fights for Tyson Fury
Tyson Fury has not fought since completing his trilogy against Derek Chisora this past December. After a tenth-round TKO win, he faced off with Oleksandr Usyk, the WBA and WBO champion, to set up a potential super fight.
Negotiations fell through, however, and Fury shifted his focus to other opponents such as Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Neither of those has come to fruition, and the ‘Gypsy King’ says it is not because of him.
“It seems at the moment I’m struggling to get an actual boxing opponent,” said Fury. “I think Mauricio Sulaimán, the president of the WBC, did an interview podcast recently and he said, ‘Tyson’s a victim of his own success. He’s that good, people don’t want to fight him. They’d rather fight somebody else.’ That’s what I’m experiencing right now.
“I think I’ve called out everybody in the top 15 in the heavyweight division in the last six months and I’m still without an opponent as we speak today.”
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