Tyson Fury Calls Out UFC's Jon Jones for Next Fight: 'I'm Gonna Kick His Ass'
September 7, 2023
Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury has his sights set on a clash with UFC heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones following his bout with former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou next month.
During an appearance Thursday on ESPN's First Take, Fury was asked by Stephen A. Smith what his next step will be after the Ngannou fight.
Fury said he is looking to fight "big, big stars" before naming Jones as his preferred opponent and exclaiming, "I'm gonna kick his ass!"
The 35-year-old Fury, who is the reigning WBC heavyweight champion, is undefeated in 34 career professional boxing matches, posting a 33-0-1 record with 24 wins by way of knockout.
Fury most recently beat Derek Chisora by 10th-round technical knockout in December, but with the Brit unable to come to terms on a fight with Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk, he has turned his attention to crossover bouts in the combat sports world.
First on the agenda is Ngannou, who has been a pro MMA fighter since 2013 and is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League.
Ngannou, 37, boasts an MMA record of 17-3 with 12 knockout victories. He beat Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title in March 2021 and successfully defended it against Ciryl Gane January 2022 before vacating it and leaving UFC when the two sides could not come to terms on a new contract.
Now, Ngannou is set for his first pro boxing fight against Fury in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 28.
Due to his significant edge in terms of size and boxing experience, Fury is widely expected to beat Ngannou, at which point he will apparently have an MMA legend in his crosshairs.
The 36-year-old Jones is in the argument as being the greatest pound-for-pound MMA fighter of all time, as he is 27-1 with one no contest in his career.
Jones' only loss was a disqualification for illegal elbows against Matt Hamill in 2009, but he has otherwise largely dominated throughout his career.
Jones has held both the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, and he is scheduled to defend the heavyweight championship against Miocic at UFC 295 in November.
If Fury and Jones both take care of business, there would likely be plenty of interest from combat sports fans in a fight between them, although it is unclear if UFC would be willing to let Jones take the bout.