Michael Bisping: Tyson Fury Could ‘Absolutely’ Succeed in Mixed Martial Arts

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Tyson Fury’s recent announcement that he intends to pursue a career in mixed martial arts was met with mixed reactions on social media.

The 31-year-old even claimed that Irish superstar Conor McGregor had offered to train him and just last week a video surfaced of Fury training with Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Darren Till.

The announcement by Fury perplexed UFC President Dana White, who said his transition from boxing to MMA would not be successful.

Former middleweight champ Michael Bisping talked about Fury’s move to MMA on his Believe You Me podcast and believes his fellow countryman could succeed, but it would depend on the style of opponent he is given (via BJPENN.com).

“Absolutely he could,” Bisping said.

“I truly believe that if you matched him up correctly. Cause there is some good wrestlers like Stipe, for one. He outwrestled Ngannou, Ngannou’s been doing MMA longer than Fury so you’d think he’d outwrestle Fury as well. That just goes without saying, really. And they’re not going to give Tyson Fury a title fight right off the bat anyway. But then you’ve got other guys. I mean Cormier’s going to be done soon.”

Bisping said it wouldn’t be fair to throw him into the deep end against an all-round fighter, particularly against someone who is well-versed in wrestling and could take Fury down. “The Count” suggested the UFC could ease him in with an opponent willing to stand and bang against the heavyweight boxing champ.

“If Tyson Fury was to come over, I’m not going to say the word ‘groom,’ but they would stagger his matchups and give him logical matchups,” Bisping continued when discussing how Tyson Fury should be booked. “Listen, look at the UFC. People call it the entertainment era and Fury ties into that perfectly. The guy can talk, he can talk sh*t for days. He’s very, very funny. He can put people down, he sings on the microphone. Not only is he the heavyweight champion of the world but he’s massively charismatic. He’s an absolute huge star and if he can come over win a couple of fights and then get a title fight, for the UFC that’s big business. That’d be a massive, massive pay-per-view.”