Francis Ngannou has been warned that he will find it "complicated" to deal with Tyson Fury if the two heavyweight champions square off.
The UFC heavyweight title holder has been angling for a crossover bout between he and his boxing equivalent, even making a trip to London to take in Fury's latest title defence. But the opponent against whom he fought to unify the UFC's heavyweight division Ciryl Gane is concerned that Ngannou doesn't have the striking prowess to cause Fury problems.
Combat sports at heavyweight allow for the possibility of a freak knockout, but Ngannou would be a major underdog against Fury. And Gane admits that he would struggle against Fury, but believes he outboxed the champion when they fought in January.
"I think this fight is going to be a little bit complicated for Francis," Gane, who lost his unbeaten record as well as his chance at undisputed gold to his Cameroonian rival, told Mirror Fighting . "Boxing is not MMA.
"I think that I did very well on the striking against Francis. And if it were me fighting against Tyson Fury, I think he would really be a lot better than me, so I think it's going to be a very complicated fight for Francis."
Gane is set to make his hometown debut in Paris in September when he takes on the fast-rising fan favourite Tai Tuivasa at the Accor Arena. The UFC have been shunned from France due to MMA being illegal in the country, but have endeavoured to get Gane a fight there now that it's been legalised.
And Tuivasa will prove a difficult dance partner for his heavyweight rival as they both move towards the title picture. Gane is the No.1 contender at the weight, while Tuivasa leapt into the third spot with a stunning knockout win over Derrick Lewis back in February.
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"I think he's a little bit similar to Derrick Lewis and Jairzinho Rozenstruik," Gane explained, having comfortably beaten both of those top heavyweights. "This is going to help me to fight against Tuivasa.
"But I don't want to say that I prefer this guy or that guy because I want to fight and win against the best fighters to be a real champion. So I don't want to make a choice, but yes I think having fought those two will have helped."
Tuivasa and Gane's last victories are both stoppages over Lewis, who is a former world title contender and one of the most feared punchers in the division. But Gane's victory, albeit later, was much more comfortable than Tuivasa's, who had to take some major shots before eventually stopping his opponent in his hometown.
"For me, Tai Tuivasa is a little bit better than Derrick Lewis," Gane added. "Because he can make an action and attack with two, three, maybe four punches.
"Derrick Lewis likes to do just one punch, so I think he's very much like Lewis but just better. So for me this fight was the kind of fight I expected, but this is a big fight because he stopped Derrick earlier."
UFC FIGHT NIGHT ® : GANE vs. TUIVASA tickets go on sale from 09:00 a.m. BST on Friday, July 24, via Accor Arena and Ticketmaster.
