UFC legend Chael Sonnen isn’t a big fan of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s callout of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, going as far as to question whether it is a sign that Fury is not confident of being able to get a promoter willing to back his crazy hybrid fight idea.

“Tyson comes to us with perhaps the dumbest idea in (combat) sports history,” Sonnen said.

“He knows it is, but if somebody is willing to write a cheque, he will in fact go through with it.

“Now if somebody is not willing to write the cheque, of which they obviously haven’t which is why he is pitching the idea as opposed to a promoter pitching it to him, he made it ridiculous enough that we can all stand back and laugh and he can say ‘I was just kidding’.”

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Fury, the two-time world heavyweight titleholder who has a professional boxing record of 33 wins (24 KOs) and a draw with no losses, sensationally called out Ngannou – the former UFC heavyweight champion, who holds a professional MMA record of 17 wins (12 KOs) with only three losses and none since 2018 – for a blockbuster clash contested by two of the best combat athletes in the world.

“Francis Ngannou, I know you’re out of contract with the UFC,” Fury said in an interview with Seconds Out.

“You want to earn some big boy money? Come see ‘The Gypsy King’ and let’s do a big, big fight for the baddest MF on the planet.

“Let’s kick it up spicy, in a cage, four-ounce gloves under Queensbury (rules) and let’s have a badass referee like ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. Did I just sell that to the world?”

Sonnen criticised Fury’s wild proposal even further suggesting the outlandishness of the rules of the fight were the six-foot-nine-inch giant’s way of saving face should things fall through again, likening it to a young man who wants to ask a pretty girl on a date but is too scared of being rejected to openly lay their cards on the table.

“It was dissapointing to hear to hear Fury talking so stupid cause he doesn’t generally do that… for him to come out (saying things) so stupid and then make Mike Tyson as referee,” former UFC fighter said.

“We’ve all done it, we all recognise this. We’ve all asked the girl out who we’re not really sure is gonna say yes to us, so we put a LOL in the text message. We’ve all done this, but to watch a guy in that position – that could command, should have the connections, should’ve already had this done behind the scenes, should’ve been able to come out and make an announcement – instead lobby a joke (proposal) to the world with pieces that just simply couldn’t (work). I mean it was just weird.

“Are these guys gonna do it or not? If they are gonna do it, then why are they doing it in a cage? Why are they doing it with four ounce golves? Why are you calling boxing ‘Queensbury’? Why don’t we make this real simple? Because then we’d have to do it, that’s why.”

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Fury is currently in negotiations to take on IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO & Ring champion Oleksandr Usyk – who is coming off back-to-back victories over former British champion Anthony Joshua – in a highly anticipated boxing match sometime in 2023 that will crown the winner the undisputed world heavyweight champion.

However, with these discussions being dragged out, it appears that the Manchester native has sights set on the France-based MMA fighter as the next man up on his hit list.

“If the contract doesn’t get signed with Usyk next for the fight of the century in boxing then we’ll do the Ngannou fight,” Fury declared, noting that while negotiations with Usyk are going “really, really well,” nothing about the bout has been finalised.

“Whether it’s going to be in Las Vegas or Wembley, who will know — we will know quite soon I think.”

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This isn’t the first time that Fury and Ngannou have looked destined to fight each other, with the man known in MMA as ‘The Predator’ sitting ringside to watch The Gypsy King’s victory over Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium last year, before the pair had a face-off in the ring in the immediate aftermath.

While the fight never got off the ground following their April encounter, mainly due to Ngannou’s status as a contracted fighter for the UFC coupled with his still injured knee, negotiations for this unique cage fight will likely ramp up now that the Cameroon native is a free agent and has almost fully recovered from surgery on his severely damaged knee.

36-year-old Ngannou – a 6 foot 4 inch monster, tipping the scales at somewhere between 120 to 140 kilograms – for his part, is clearly still eager to fight Fury based on recent comments made to Ariel Helwani following his shock release from the UFC.

“Whatever it is, if it is with Tyson Fury, I will take it. I have no problem doing boxing with 4oz gloves,” Ngannou said during an appearance on Helwani’s ‘The MMA Hour’.

“We will figure it out. Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua would be my first ideal opponent.”

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However, former boxing world champion Tony Bellew, 40, believes stepping into the ring with Fury would be bad news for the man considered the scariest fighter to ever compete in the UFC.

“Terrible shame! He will not survive in a boxing ring against anyone of any note,” Bellew warned in reply to a poll posted by Ariel Helwani on Twitter asking fans whether they would like to see Fury vs Ngannou in Bellator, PFL, boxing or BKFC.

“He’s the best MMA heavyweight in the world right now and he needs to stay within his discipline… *fingers crossed emoji*.”

At this stage, no formal discussions have begun between the Fury and Ngannou camps. Yet, it appears more likely a matter of when, not if, fans will get to see the highly anticipated clash of the heavyweight titans in 2023.