Tyson Fury has been told the UFC will try their best to stop a fight with Francis Ngannou from taking place.
Ngannou got in the ring with Fury to tease a fight after the Brit knocked out Dillian Whyte last weekend to defend his heavyweight belts. UFC champion Ngannou had flown from Las Vegas to London just for the fight as he watched closely from ringside.
Fury teased a "very special fight" against Ngannou despite having announced his retirement just moments earlier. Ngannou said the fight will take place under a 'hybrid ruleset' that will see both men box wearing 4oz MMA gloves.
Now-retired MMA veteran Josh Thomson thinks the UFC will try to stop Ngannou from competing against Fury. Speaking on his Weighing In podcast, Thomson said: "I think the UFC will do whatever they can to stop that fight from happening.
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"Francis is a great heavyweight, I think he's fun to watch let's be honest, he doesn't bring in the numbers they [UFC] would need for him to bring in to pay him what boxing would pay him for one fight. I think Tyson would eat him up."
Ngannou fought out of contract in January by defeating Ciryl Gane and is yet to re-sign with the UFC. 'The Predator' is not able to compete for other promotions whilst under UFC contract but he will be free to do so when the terms of his deal expire in December.
The Cameroonian is ruled out of action for the rest of the year having recently underwent knee surgery. Ngannou, who earned $600,000 for his last fight, has campaigned for better pay if he is to sign a new UFC deal. He also wants a clause that would allow him to compete in boxing whilst under contract.
Fury, who earned a massive $29.5million for his knockout of Whyte, sounded eager to step in the ring with his 270lb counterpart, telling ESPN after his win: "This is going to be one very special fight. It'll be something never before seen in the history of our sport.
"We're not talking two guys around 140lb, I'm 270lb, he's 270lb. It's going to be an explosive fight when it happens I'm the boxing heavyweight champion, he's the UFC heavyweight champion, he's in great shape, look at the muscles on him."
Several UFC fighters have called for crossover fights with boxing stars, but former two-weight champion Conor McGregor is the only fighter to have done so whilst under contract. In 2017, McGregor was stopped by Floyd Mayweather in the boxing legend's final fight and 50th professional win.
