Tyson Fury has no interest in partaking in mixed martial arts, so if Jon Jones wants a piece of him, it would have to happen in a boxing ring.
That was the message Fury, the boxing heavyweight champion, relayed to Jones, the UFC heavyweight champion, in a video posted Friday on social media.
“I see Jon Jones has piped up,” Fury said before addressing Jones directly. “Jon, you talk about me in a cage. I’m not a cagefighter, mate. I’m a boxer – the best boxer actually. So if you want to come into a boxing ring to fight me, be my guest, let me know. You don’t have to call anybody else – no Dana, nobody. You call me. Because it’s a boxing fight, and I’m the boss in this game.
“You’re a great fighter, Jon, but you’re definitely no boxer, that’s for sure.”
Tyson Fury responds to Jon Jones’ challenge:
“I’m not a cage fighter, mate. I’m a boxer. So if you want to come into a boxing ring to fight me, be my guest.” pic.twitter.com/aDPLhbwvz0— MMA Mania (@mmamania) May 19, 2023
Fury’s words come a day after Jones inserted himself into a back-and-forth between Fury and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who recently said Fury wouldn’t “have a f*cking chance in hell” if he was locked in a room with Jones. That garnered a response from Fury to Rogan, which is when Jones jumped on Twitter to issue a challenge of sorts, which ended with him telling Fury to give UFC president Dana White a call about making the fight.
Therein lies the dilemma whenever a UFC fighter and boxer start to verbally spar: Jones is tied to a restrictive UFC contract that doesn’t allow him to do anything but fight inside the octagon without the UFC’s permission whereas Fury isn’t bound by such contractual terms. So you end up with just talk.
Speaking of which, Jones responded to Fury’s retort quickly on Twitter.
Yesterday, Tyson says, “no man born from a mother can beat me”, today he says “Jon can never beat me in a boxing ring”. Yeah I’m glad we got that clarified. You just switched your beat up faster than Travis Barker, impressive.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 19, 2023
Yesterday, Tyson says, “no man born from a mother can beat me”, today he says “Jon can never beat me in a boxing ring”. Yeah I’m glad we got that clarified. You just switched your beat up faster than Travis Barker, impressive.