Last last year heavyweight boxing star Tyson Fury indicated that he wanted to compete in MMA, but it seems he’s now looking to rework that plan to do something that’s a little more inside his comfort zone and skill-set.
“I don’t want to go into an MMA fight, rolling around the floor and all that, no,” Fury told ESPN Radio. “But I would fight one of their champions in small gloves.
“Maybe in a cage, but with boxing rules. I think that would be very interesting. With UFC gloves, the little 4-ounce gloves, that would be good for me.”
Fury then went on to reveal that he’s going to have talks with Dana White to see if they can come to a deal.
“After I beat Deontay Wilder next month, I’m going to have a sit-down with Dana [White] and we’re going to go for it, run some numbers and see if the fight makes sense.
“Whoever’s available from that side, and whoever’s willing to get their a** kicked in the cage by the heavyweight champion of the world, he’s the one I want.”
It’s a bit of a strange hybrid that Fury is suggesting, which would still leave whoever they choose as his MMA opponent with a much more limited ability to use their skills than they would in a ‘real’ UFC fight, ruling out not the ground-based wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but also things like kicks, knees and elbows.
Nevertheless, an orderly queue of big name UFC heavyweights, and indeed perhaps even light-heavyweights willing to move up a division, will surely be forming to participate in such a high-profile fight.
