UFC president Dana White has warned Francis Ngannou that a crossover fight with Tyson Fury is a "really bad idea".
Ngannou has fought out his contract with the UFC after his successful title defence against Cyril Gane and is eyeing future bouts in the boxing ring.
Fury has expressed his desire to face Ngannou in an crossover bout and believes it could happen in Las Vegas in the early stages of 2023.
White has quickly dismissed Ngannou's chances of beating Fury, pointing out the similarity in his knockout power to Fury's recent trilogy opponent Deontay Wilder.
“It’s a really bad idea for Francis – a really bad idea,” White said in an interview with Barstool Sports. “So did Deontay Wilder – he had that one-punch (knockout) power, too."
White previously promoted the crossover bout between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather which became the second highest-selling pay-per-view in combat sports history with around four million buys.
However he has spoken with reluctance about the possibility of Ngannou facing Fury, admitting he is unlikely to stage the event unless there is significant fan interest.
Ngannou is currently out of contract with the UFC after his recent defence and is holding talks with White over a new deal which would increase his financial reward.
Ngannou has reiterated his desire to insert a boxing clause into a new deal which would allow him to negotiate any lucrative opportunities alongside his MMA exploits.
He has also stated his preference to fight Fury over any further defence against Jon Jones who is plotting his switch to the heavyweight division today.
Fury insists he will hang up his gloves after his upcoming showdown with Dillian Whyte but has confirmed he will come out of retirement to face Ngannou.
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"I don't class that as a real boxing fight. That's going to be a special fight," he told The MMA Hour. "That will be in a cage with 4oz gloves in Las Vegas at the Raiders Stadium.
"It's very possible [that we see this fight in 2022]. I will have retired from competitive championship boxing and I will be ready to do the crossover fights.
"He won't be the UFC champion anymore, I won't be the WBC heavyweight champion anymore, but I will still be the lineal heavyweight champion because they can't take that from me.
"He's a big guy; a big dangerous guy. People say it's not a fair fight in 10oz gloves and that's correct, because like [former UFC champion] Daniel Cormier said, Ngannou is a much cruder version of Deontay Wilder and we all know what happened there."
"So if we do it in 4oz gloves then he has more chance of knocking me out but I have a better chance of knocking him out also so it makes for an exciting fight."
