Conor McGregor was involved in the biggest boxing vs. MMA crossover fight of all time when he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr in the squared circle back in 2017, and now 6 years later he’s headed to Riyadh to watch another MMA star, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou take on another boxing great, Tyson Fury.
Ahead of the bout, McGregor has given his assessment of the upcoming fight, and despite being a big underdog, ‘The Notorious’ is not willing to completely rule out Ngannou’s chances of emerging with a victory tonight.
“MMA ventures over to boxing once again,” McGregor said in an audio post on X. “I’m so excited to be there. I can’t wait to touch down in Saudi Arabia, see what the country has to offer.”
“Francis Ngannou, for me, is more of a kickboxer/boxer than he is a mixed martial artist in my opinion. He’s more of a standup fighter than he is a mixed martial artist. “You start throwing in grappling with Francis, it’s never good for him. He has a striker’s mentality. This will stand him in this bout. He has a tall ask with Tyson Fury, but any man can land a shot. Tyson does get hit. It’s going to be a tough ask. I’m excited to see it unfold.
“Tyson looks great in the buildup. He’s fast, light, elusive. It could be a seriously stellar performance from Tyson Fury here.”
“What’s the variables? The Mike Tyson influx into this in Francis Ngannou’s corner is very interesting. Francis has power. Francis has big power…. With power, anything can happen. Mike Tyson in the corner, that type of style could be a kryptonite of a long, rangy, distance type of fighter in Tyson Fury. I don’t think Tyson is going to want to let him test, let Francis test his power on him.
“Has Mike Tyson given him some tips to get inside, to change an angle, to bang a shot that clips the top of the temple to make it into an interesting bout? You wouldn’t know. Also, Tyson Fury is named after Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson, the former youngest heavyweight champion of all time, icon in boxing and Tyson Fury’s father, John, named his son after Mike Tyson, Tyson Fury. Fast forward a few years, Mike Tyson himself is now training a man to beat his son. That casts so much emotions into it, and adds so much on to it. It heaps so much onto the story.
“What type of energy will be in the building and what type of energy the Fury’s going into the bout with particularly John and particularly Tyson? It is a very interesting bout with all these things considered.”
McGregor stopped short of giving a prediction, but it’s fair to say that most MMA fans expect Fury to comfortably emerge victorious on the night, and the bookmakers agree, with Fury being a massive -1400 favorite to win.
