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Combat sports has produced some pretty wild crossovers throughout its history, but heavyweight boxing king Tyson Fury testing his luck in mixed martial arts (MMA) may be one of the biggest.
Well, probably not bigger than this one.
Fury, who is arguably the most popular name in boxing today, has really started to take over the fight game after coming back from a hiatus in June 2018. The towering Englishman has not only captured four dominant wins since then, but he fought current WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder to a draw last December in one of the best fights in recent memory. Fury, who is a true entertainer, also made a recent crossover into professional wrestling at WWE’s Crown Jewel.
While Fury is likely to stick to boxing for the time being in search of a monstrous rematch with Wilder, “Gypsy King” is still setting some time aside to work on his MMA skills. After showcasing his elbow game alongside UFC middleweight Darren Till (see it HERE), Fury is now looking to schedule a few training sessions with combat superstar Conor McGregor.
“I think Conor is an absolutely fantastic fighting man. He has offered to train me if I ever want to go into MMA,” Fury told RTE Radio 1 (h/t The Mac Life).. “What better trainer could I have than the Notorious Conor McGregor? I’m looking forward to coming to train with Conor. We’re going to get it all planned in and I should be over in Dublin quite soon.
“I’ll definitely be coming over for a training session, that is for sure. I have been MMA training in the last week with Darren Till in Liverpool,” Fury continued. “I really enjoy the new challenge. I don’t know where or when [I’ll move into MMA] because after I finish my boxing career I fancy my hand at MMA as well.”
Fury, 31, is still young enough to get a few years of training under his belt before deciding to make a crossover into the cage. But if he wants to strike while the iron is hot and cash in on his growing notoriety in combat sports, “Gypsy King” may want to ask UFC for an opportunity sooner rather than later.
While McGregor isn’t the most complete fighter to ready Fury for such a change in fighting, “Notorious” does understand how to incorporate world-class striking into a dangerous MMA game. But with his own MMA comeback to plan, McGregor may be a little too busy over the next few months to really dive in and start teaching Fury the ins and out of MMA.
What do you think, Maniacs? Can McGregor ready Fury for MMA action?