Tyson Fury still open to crossing over to the UFC – eventually

(This story first appeared at BoxingJunkie.com.)

Tyson Fury has a lot on his plate at the moment, most notably a third fight with Deontay Wilder when the coronavirus pandemic allows it.

That could be followed by an all-British showdown with Anthony Joshua. And Fury said he’ll probably give professional wrestling another go.

One more possibility down the line? A foray in the UFC. He said during a chat with Kugan Cassius on his Instagram Live workout that he has spoken to UFC president Dana White on the subject.

Fury has trained with UFC middleweight Darren Till.

“I’ve had plenty of conversations with Dana White about potentially having a fight with one of the guys,” Fury said. “But at the minute, I don’t need to fight UFC guys. … I need to clear up some of my own stuff [in boxing]. There’s a few guys that need to be fought in this era. I need to fight Wilder again. I’ve got to fight Joshua. I need to fight Dillian Whyte.

“I’ll fight anyone. And there’s a lot coming up, too, like Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois and Tony Yoka. A lot of fresh meat to beat on. There’s even fights like Luis Ortiz, whoever.”

Fury continued to reel off potential boxing opponents but then circled back to UFC.

“There’s so many heavyweights today,” he said. “Efa Ajagba, the Nigerian. He looks pretty good, big tall kid. Filip Hrgovic, he looks amazing, too. Oleksandr Usyk. Derek Chisora, he’s in the mix. There’s so many good heavyweights out there to be fought and fights to give the fans.

“Until then, I don’t need a fight with Francis Ngannou. I don’t need Stipe Miocic, Brock Lesnar, whoever. I don’t need these guys to fight in a crossover match right now. When I’m finished what I’m doing in my own career, we can look at something like that.”

There is no telling precisely when or where Fury-Wilder III will take place because of the pandemic. Promoters are shooting for the fall and reportedly are considering sites outside the U.S. and U.K., including China and Australia.