If you thought the boxing vs. MMA game was over after Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, you were very wrong…
When it was announced that UFC star Conor McGregor would fight Floyd Mayweather, many eyebrows were raised. Even at age 40, Floyd Mayweather is a defensive genius in the boxing ring.
Entertaining as it was, especially in the hype stages, it was eventually a loss for McGregor. ‘The Money Fight,’ as it was dubbed, has now given way to boxers calling out MMA fighters, and visa versa.
Perhaps sensing the sheer amount of money to be made from combining two sets of fans, champions from each sport have been issuing challenges to their opposites. Among the most well known from the boxing world is the heavyweight king Anthony Joshua.
While McGregor and Mayweather were preparing to fight, Joshua was talking about crossing over to MMA. Although he’s not keen on submissions, Joshua said he would allow elbows, kicks and knees:
Joshua Game, Knockout Artist Responds
Speaking during a recent interview, AJ claims a mixed rules fight would be no problem for him:
“I like fighting, I’d do whatever. The only thing that they can’t do is submissions but they can kick, elbow, bite – whatever they want,” Joshua said.
“I can’t beat a guy [via submission]. That takes a lot of time to learn the skills and submissions, which I don’t have the time for, but when it comes to pure aggression and fighting rules, I can definitely fight, so I don’t mind that.”
“It wouldn’t be a problem,”
Look who has piped up and said they want a piece:
Interesting…
Although Johnson is currently scheduled to face Kubrat Pulev in the first defense of his WBA/IBF/IBO titles, this fight is no doubt intriguing. As Overeem mentions, he tried his hand at K-1 with great success, so why not Joshua with MMA?
AJ has already spoken about fighting heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, who responded saying he would love to face the boxing champ:
Stipe is Game Too…
Although Miocic is talking about going to boxing, it’s likely he’d be willing to face Joshua in the UFC under a mixed rule contest too:
“He’s an amazing fighter. I think it would be great, something different. I’d love to show what I’ve got. I think he’s an amazing fighter, nothing to take away from him honestly but I think it would be awesome.”
“Conor’s did it (against Mayweather). It’s great cross promotion, I’d love to be a part of that.”
“I did Golden Gloves and all that good stuff,”
“I just love the fight, I think it would be a great fight, I think people would love to see it.”
“I’m going to go out there and give it all I got. Listen, I’ve got the best coaches in the world and I’d definitely be ready for that fight.”
