Dana White thinks 'it's a really bad idea' for Francis Ngannou to box Tyson Fury

[KazDibiase]

Dana White doesn’t rate Francis Ngannou’s chances against Tyson Fury too highly.

Fury and Ngannou have expressed interest in boxing each other for a while now, with Fury proposing a special rules bout with four-ounce gloves. But in a recent interview on “The MMA Hour,” Fury said he plans on retiring after boxing Dillian Whyte in April and sees a fight with UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou on the horizon.

But White, who’s currently having negotiation issues with Ngannou and his management, doesn’t think the heavyweight champion should even entertain a fight with Fury.

“It’s a really bad idea for Francis – a really bad idea,” White said in an interview with Barstool Sports.


When asked about Ngannou’s knockout power, which has shut the lights out on 12 of his 17 opponents, White said even that wouldn’t be enough against a boxer of Fury’s caliber.

“So did Deontay Wilder – he had that one-punch (knockout) power, too,” White said.

Fury battled Wilder three times. Their first outing was a thrilling draw in December 2018 in which Fury was able to miraculously get up from a thunderous Wilder knockdown. But the WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion was able to leave no doubt when he finished Wilder in both the rematch and trilogy bouts.

Ngannou currently is healing from a knee injury and is projected to be out for the remainder of the year. Although he fought out his contract after retaining his title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 this past January, Ngannou is still tied to the UFC until the end of the year due to a “championship clause.”

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

 

[Fight Professor]

Dana is right. I can understand Ngannou vs Wilder but he is not going to be even remotely competitive against more technical boxers.

 

[613]

He isn't wrong

 

[Unheralded Truth]

I can't disagree on this

 

[jx820]

It's a bad idea for his health and well being, but it's a VERY good financial decision.

 

[Question]

Yup. Especially with how the Gane fight was going in the first 3 rounds, he would get destroyed by Fury and most people know it.
I like Francis, but this fight will not make as much money as he thinks and he would be better off staying in MMA. If he leaves the UFC, he'll still have plenty of opportunities in MMA with other promotions.

 

[GordonMMARamsey]

Financially its pretty terrible for Dana, and Francis would get smashed. he's right lol.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

I mean yeah Ngannou isn't going to beat a legit HW champ boxer the same way a legit HW champ boxer won't beat Ngannou in MMA.

But Ngannou would get paid so I mean yeah it's probably a good idea for him

 

[Grandwizard666]

This is Francis's promoter everyone
This douche should be trying to tell you a 5th grade boy could ko Tyson in 20 seconds if that boy was under his promotion
It's hilarious how much Dana white sucks sometimes
No wonder Francis wants to bounce

 

[gaffbyknees2]

This whole thing is sadddddddd and stupid and VERY simple. The MMA fighter wins in an MMA fight the Boxerrrrr wins in a ... you guesed it!! Boxing match!!

These MMA fighters don't even really think they can win in boxing. They don't care they just want a big payday and knowing it's not happening in MMA they all want to box and I cannot blame them. Make that money but it's sad that for 99% of mma guys to actually make some real coin they have to LEAVE the sport they love and trained their whole life for. Pathetic, fuck you Dana.

 

[Enigma87]

If Francis goes into boxing it should be bare knuckle. He’s not doing to do anything against super technical guys like Fury, Joshua, Usyk, etc.

 

[DoNoootin]

No shit. The Gypsie King would wipe the floor with him.

 

[G10]

This is Francis's promoter everyone
This douche should be trying to tell you a 5th grade boy could ko Tyson in 20 seconds if that boy was under his promotion
It's hilarious how much Dana white sucks sometimes
No wonder Francis wants to bounce

1000% this. By the exact same logic, it was a really bad idea for Conor to challenge Floyd, but we didn't hear that at all from Dana. He's so petty and thin-skinned that he's trashing Ngannou who's still technically under contract.

 

[svmVR2097]

Yup. Especially with how the Gane fight was going in the first 3 rounds, he would get destroyed by Fury and most people know it.
I like Francis, but this fight will not make as much money as he thinks and he would be better off staying in MMA. If he leaves the UFC, he'll still have plenty of opportunities in MMA with other promotions.

it'll make more than he would in his next 10 MMA fights

 

[JoeRowe]

1000% this. By the exact same logic, it was a really bad idea for Conor to challenge Floyd, but we didn't hear that at all from Dana. He's so petty and thin-skinned that he's trashing Ngannou who's still technically under contract.

Conor was at least bigger, longer, & younger going against a 40+ year old out-of-his prime Floyd.

In this case it's Fury who is bigger, younger, and longer. While also being in his absolute prime.

 

[KingBeef]

It's a bad idea for his health and well being, but it's a VERY good financial decision.

Indeed! If you're gonna get your brains beat in, may as well get paid copious amounts of cash for it.

 

[Question]

it'll make more than he would in his next 10 MMA fights

A sad truth...
That being said if he wants to keep competing in MMA, boxing will slow that down and hurt his stock for when he wants to come back.
Boxing will have to make him rearrange his whole camp and fighting style, this will be detrimental to his combat sports career at his age IMO.

He could go on a good contract with a different promotion(Bellator, ONE, Rizin, etc) in the sport he's more competitive in. They'll probably treat him with more respect too compared to Dana White.

I could also add on that a fight with Fury might not be as lucrative as it sounds, they might try to fuck him over there too. Just look at the whole Dillian Whyte situation.

 

[MCS]

Francis has said he wants to do it as it's a dream and because of money. Some dreams can be bought, or Zuffa boxing. But competitively it's a bad idea. Francis is a great striker in MMA, but he's not a boxer. Would get outpointed, clowned.

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

Money wise it’s brilliant but skill wise Fury would make Francis look like an amateur fighter