UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has offered to face Tyson Fury in a fight with slight alterations to the rules he set out in his initial challenge.
Fury shook up Twitter this afternoon when he posted a challenge to Ngannou for a boxing match to take place with 4oz MMA gloves as opposed to the 10oz boxing ones he's used to.
The world heavyweight boxing champion posted a mock-up fight poster of the pair, and asked fans "Who would like to see me fight this beast boxing rules, UFC gloves?"
Ngannou, who recently admitted that he wants to box against Fury or his former rival Deontay Wilder before he retires, responded by instead saying they should switch Fury's bet around to MMA rules, with boxing gloves.
"How about MMA rules with boxing gloves?" Ngannou responded with a tongue-in-cheek tweet. "I can do you that favour."
This angered Fury, who mocked Ngannou's previous UFC paydays and promised that he would be stopped if the pair were to square off in the ring.
Both Ngannou and Fury have in the past indicated that they would like some sort of crossover fight, and with the UFC star seemingly at odds with the promotion it's a legitimate possibility.
"You want to come in to my world calling me and Wilder out to a boxing match," Fury responded to Ngannou.
"What I can guarantee you would be knocked out and also paid your highest purse to be so! So have a think."
Fury and Ngannou are both fearsome punchers, although in a pure striking contest the Brit would be a monstrous favourite given his technical boxing ability.
He has previously stated he would be interested in a hybrid fight of some description, since the time when Stipe Miocic was champion in 2019 and 2020.
Last year, he trained with UFC star Nick Diaz in Las Vegas ahead of his trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder, and floated the idea of a bout with Ngannou after he had taken care of the American.
He has since knocked out Wilder for a second time to secure the world heavyweight title, and a bout with Ngannou could draw millions given the unique blend of styles.
"[Diaz] told me Ngannou can't do wrestling anyway so we're just looking for a stand-up bang out," Fury told TMZ back in June.
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"Me and Ngannou in the small gloves, make it happen. As soon as I'm done with Wilder and Joshua I will fight Ngannou in an octagon with 4oz gloves.
"He's not a wrestler anyway, it's a stand-up fight."
Fury will first have to defeat Dillian Whyte, or one of Robert Helenius and Andy Ruiz Jr, while Ngannou is set to face Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 later this month.
Talks appear to have stalled for Fury's fight with Whyte, and should Ngannou beat Gane he will be locked in for one more MMA fight.
