Conor McGregor has confirmed he is travelling to Saudi Arabia this morning to watch Tyson Fury face Francis Ngannou in their highly-anticipated heavyweight fight this weekend.
McGregor is no stranger to crossover boxing bouts after taking on Floyd Mayweather inside the squared circle back in 2017, and he is now Saudi-bound to see if Ngannou can pull off a huge upset in his first ever boxing match.
The 35-year-old revealed he is ‘excited’ to get out to the Middle East, and believes Ngannou has a chance of getting his hand raised.
Taking to X on Thursday evening, McGregor told fans: ‘Just getting on to announce I will be heading to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia early AM tomorrow for the big heavyweight blockbuster fight between boxer Tyson Fury and mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou – crossover boxing.
‘MMA ventures over to boxing once again, and this time in the Kingdom and this time with the heavyweights.
Conor McGregor is travelling to Saudi Arabia this morning ahead of Tyson Fury’s fight with Francis Ngannou
Fury (left) is a huge favourite to beat Ngannou (right), but McGregor thinks ‘anything can happen’
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‘So excited to be there, can’t wait to touch down in Saudi Arabia, see what the country has to offer, and I appreciate the invite sincerely. I’m looking forward to it so much.
‘I’d like to talk about the bout. Great bout, interesting bout. Francis Ngannou for me is more of a kickboxer/boxer than he is a mixed martial artist, in my opinion. You start throwing in grappling with Francis, it’s never good for him.
‘He has a striker’s mentality. He has a tall ask with Tyson Fury, but any man can land a shot. I’m excited to see it unfold. Tyson looks great in the build-up, fast, light, elusive. It could be a seriously stellar performance from Tyson Fury here.
‘What’s the variables in this? The Mike Tyson variable is very interesting in Francis Ngannou’s corner. Francis has power, Francis has big power. With that power, anything can happen. I don’t think Tyson’s going to want to let Francis test his power on him.’
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou is known for his remarkable power, having claimed 12 of his 17 wins in MMA via knockout.
John Fury took centre stage at Thursday’s press conference as he called for a fight with Mike Tyson
But he has his work cut out against Fury, who has won his last four fights inside the distance and is unbeaten in 34 contests as a professional.
Fury and Ngannou went face-to-face at their final press conference on Thursday, with both men looking in good shape ahead of Saturday’s fight.
However, it was Fury’s dad John who stole the show as he called out Ngannou’s trainer Mike Tyson for a fight and took his shirt off when Fury and Ngannou had their face-off.
After a high-profile build-up, there is now just Friday’s weigh-in still to go, before Fury and Ngannou finally settle their differences in the ring, and McGregor will be at ringside to watch it all unfold.