Back in 2013, Tyson Fury said some derogatory comments about MMA and the people who choose to playing that sport instead of boxing. These statements made headlines and a lot of people expressed their thoughts about it.
“I would take Cain Velasquez out. MMA, to me, is bulls—. It’s for people who can’t box and like wrestling on the floor. It’s rubbish,” he said back in 2013.
Two years later, it looks like he hasn’t changed his opinion about the sport even though he had been exposed more because of Rico Verhoeven, a GLORY heavyweight champ who is giving him extensive training.
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s The MMA Hour, Fury explained his opinion about the MMA and MMA fighters in general.
“Not really. I think MMA is for people who can’t box, basically. That’s just my opinion on that. It’s not really entertaining for me. The only time it’s entertaining is when they stand up and punch each other. That’s what I think fans like as well. I don’t think anyone likes to see people roll about the floor. I think people want to see the stand-up punching. Even the referee when they’re on the floor to get up, get into it. I think I speak on behalf of a lot of people that the best parts of MMA is when they’re standing up and trading punches,” Fury said.
Aside from working with kickboxers like Daniel Ghita and Verhoeven, Fury also had the chance to work in the same gyms where Paul Daley and Dan Hardy go to. Fury admitted that he’s not too familiar with the other MMA fighters, especially those in the UK. This fact toned him down. He further revealed that even though he is not a big fan of the MMA, he has nothing against those fighters who are using the sport as their bread and butter.
“I don’t disrespect what anybody does. If they’re achieving something positive in their life, that’s very good and they deserve credit for it. Anybody that can do something good in sports or life in general deserves lots of credit. What I’m saying, where I’m coming from is, the best part of MMA to me is when they’re standing up kicking each other and punching each other. Stand-up combat, you see. Anything that’s stand-up, one-on-one combat, for me, I’m into. As soon as they start going up and down the floor and scoring points – not too sure how it works – but what I see, I’m not really too interested in. Sometimes they can stay on the floor quite a while before the referee says gets up before anything is going on. I just like to see the strikes getting blowed: punches, kicks, knees, whatever you like. All stand-up action,” Fury said.
Fury might eventually have some gigs in the MMA, like other boxers, since he is now a bit aware with how the sport works. Scott Coker, the president of Bellator, tried to get Fury to Spike TV in the past, but nothing has come to fruition up to this day. Fury confirmed that he is scheduled to fight Kltischko this coming summer, but he has yet to land his punches on one of the MMA heavyweight fighters in the sport.
“Me and Scott Coker’s had many conversations in the past about coming to Belltor and fight. I’m the heavyweight champion on the world in boxing and I’d like to unify and switch. I’d like to fight the UFC heavyweight champion. I’ve been calling Cain Velasquez out for two years and then he got beaten, so it showed you what I said was about right. I’lI just want to fight the best, the best stand-up fighter in the world. Whoever is the best stand-up fighter in the world, I want to fight him because I believe I’m that man. I don’t care if he wants to kick, whatever he wants to do. We can have an all-in fight because I believe I’m the best combat fighter on the planet,” Fury said.