28 April 2023 , 13:50
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Former UFC star Gegard Mousasi has warned Francis Ngannou he would struggle against Tyson Fury if the pair were to meet in a highly anticipated crossover fight.
The UFC heavyweight champion left the promotion on top, but hasn't fought since January of last year due to injury, with the promotion opting instead to crown a new champion in Jon Jones. He has been entertaining offers around the boxing world as well as in MMA, but as yet has not decided on his next move.
Mousasi, who similarly left the UFC while one of the top middleweights in the world back in 2017, decided to make Bellator his home and was rewarded with massive payouts and two world titles. But he fears Ngannou may be looking for a major fee, which could only be attained in a dangerous crossover to boxing.
"I think the Francis Ngannou thing is a little different," Mousasi said of the pair's career parallels to Mirror Fighting . "I heard that they wanted to pay him $6million or something like that, I don't know. So maybe he gambled with boxing he thought he could do better but I got significantly better in Bellator when I went from UFC so for me it was the right decision.
"The thing is with UFC if you're champion, okay, you're going to make a lot of money. But if you're not champion you're going to make something normal but as a good athlete I feel like it doesn't matter if you hold the belt or not - they only pay the champion good money. If you're a NBA player then everyone gets a good percentage of the money, that was the deal for me. It was gambling."
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Mousasi is an advocate for fighters making the switch to Bellator, but understands that the amount of money Ngannou could make boxing would be unattainable anywhere in MMA. However, he also believes that Fury, an undefeated heavyweight champion who has disposed of the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder and Dillian Whyte.
Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou have been in talks over a super-fight crossover bout (Top Rank Boxing /Youtube)How do you think Francis Ngannou would do against Tyson Fury? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"The thing with Bellator is that they don't have pay-per-view money," Mousasi continued. "He could make probably more, because he was the champion in UFC, and even more in boxing, maybe. But I don't know if he's going to get the boxing fight that he wants and he's probably not going to do well in boxing to be honest.
"He's a heavy hitter, but a guy like Tyson Fury should win. He could [beat Fury], because all he needs is to land one punch but no, we saw against Deontay Wilder who's a heavy puncher, he beat him two or three times [the first fight between the pair ended in a controversial draw, which many believe Fury should have won].
"So it's going to be difficult for him to do boxing, he could get a big pay day but I don't know. And if he comes to Bellator there are some heavyweights who could make it difficult for him, 100 per cent."
Watch Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards live on BBC iPlayer from 5pm BST on Friday, May 12, from the Accor Arena, Paris.