The message from UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones to Heavyweight Boxing Champion Tyson Fury is loud and clear: If you think you’re the baddest man on the planet. Step into my cage.
A flurry of internet fighting words made their way across the Atlantic and around the world on Thursday after Heavyweight Boxing Champion Tyson Fury issued a fiery response to podcaster and UFC color analyst Joe Rogan, who opined that if Jones and Fury were to clash, he would bet everything on Jones.
“You want to talk about who’s the baddest man on the planet? If Jon Jones and Tyson Fury are locked into a room, I’m pushing all of my chips on black,” Rogan told comedian Andrew Schultz. “Tyson Fury is an amazing boxer – he doesn’t have a fucking chance in hell of making it out of that room. He has no chance of making it out of that room. Zero chance. [Fury] would have to catch Jon immediately with one punch, and I just don’t see that happening, man.”
That opinion was not well-received by Fury, who called Rogan a “little pussy.”
“I heard Joe Rogan say something about me, and I’ve been off all the social medias and didn’t reply to that little p*ssy, little f*ck*ng midget, bald-headed midget,” said Fury. “I heard him say that Jon Jones could f*ck me up if we were in the room together.
“I don’t think so. Not a man born from a mother could f*ck me up, in a room, on our own. Whatever happens in that room, I’d be walking out. Not a f*ck*ng problem.”
Tyson Fury goes OFF on Joe Rogan pic.twitter.com/4oDXnwr7aV
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) May 18, 2023
While Rogan hasn’t publicly responded to Fury, it didn’t take Jon Jones long to let the British boxer know that his cage is open if he wants to step inside.
“Hey Tyson, it seem like Joe may have struck a nerve,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “I’ll admit there’s no one touching you in that ring right now, but let’s not let that confuse you with what would happen if you stepped foot in my cage. If you ever want to put some of those questions you got going on to rest, give Dana [White] a call. I’ll help you out.”
Hey Tyson, it seem like Joe may have struck a nerve. I’ll admit there’s no one touching you in that ring right now, but let’s not let that confuse you with what would happen if you stepped foot in my cage. If you ever want to put some of those questions you got going on to rest,…
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 18, 2023
As if that wasn’t enough, Jones followed that tweet with another, claiming that the fight would end in the first round.
Round one https://t.co/7pCbtPyeML
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 18, 2023
First of all, wow. Just wow. At the outset, it needs to be said that Joe Rogan is a huge Tyson Fury fan, and his comments about a hypothetical matchup between Fury and Jones have less to do with Fury than they do with their respective fight disciplines.
Tyson Fury has spent his career striking with his hands only and never needing to defend anything below his belt line. Jones has spent his professional career striking with hands, feet, elbows, and knees and being able to attack a person virtually anywhere on the body.
He’s also maybe the most gifted wrestler and takedown artist who has ever competed in the heavyweight division.
Fury has never had to contend with anything even remotely like that. So, when Rogan said he would bet everything “on black” if the two were locked in a room in an “anything goes” matchup. He wasn’t saying Tyson Fury is a bad fighter. He was saying he would lose because Jones has been fighting anything does or very close to it his entire career, and Fury wouldn’t be able to deal with that.
It’s more of a statement of fact than anything else.
Of course, Fury believes he’s the “baddest man on the planet.” He’s the heavyweight champion of the world! But so is Jon Jones. And in the sport Jones competes in Fury wouldn’t have a chance. Though, I dearly wish Fury would follow Jones’ advice and “give Dana a call” so we can all watch.