TYSON FURY has been offered a route into bare-knuckle boxing for a dream fight with ex-UFC star Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson.
David Feldman is the president of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in America.
He promoted the brutal grudge match between Paulie Malignaggi and Artem Lobov in 2020, which Conor McGregor’s training partner won on points.
Feldman has also secured the high-profile signing of former UFC flyweight Paige VanZant.
But his fantasy fight would be between current WBC heavyweight champion Fury and Johnson, a two-time UFC title challenger.
Feldman told SunSport: “It’s a tough one, but I’d say in the heavyweight division Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson fight Tyson Fury.
“I think that would be a very intriguing fight, you got a guy like Anthony Rumble who can punch really, really hard.
“And you see sometimes boxers don’t do as well in bare-knuckle fighting because in our sport you can hold and punch, and clinch.
“But Fury’s family is full of travellers, of bare-knuckle fighters so I think those are the two I’d pick the most.
“I think that’s a very intriguing matchup. If I could do that right now, I would pick Rumble vs Tyson Fury, that would be an amazing matchup.”
Johnson, 36, left the UFC in 2016 after losing to light-heavyweight legend Daniel Cormier for a second time.
He went on to become BKFC’s head of fighter relations, working closely with Feldman.
Johnson has since announced a return to MMA and was signed by UFC’s competitors Bellator.
Fury, 32, the current unbeaten heavyweight, is no stranger to combat with exposed fists, as his dad John as well as uncle and former trainer Peter both fought as bare-knuckle boxers.
Feldman says the Gypsy King’s family affair with the sport makes him the perfect man to transition over.
For similar reasons, if the promoter could pick a star from the UFC to sign, it would be Jorge Masvidal.
Masivdal, 36, first made his name fighting on the streets of Miami with famed brawler Kimbo Slice and has carried his experience into the cage.
Feldman revealed: “If I was going MMA, I’d like to get Jorge Masivdal.
“I think he fits for this, he used to do this in the backyard with Kimbo Slice, so I think this fits right up his alley way.
“He likes to stand and bang and he’s got the persona for it, I think he’d be a great addition.”
BKFC have already welcomed recognisable names from MMA such as Lobov, 34, Chris Leben, 40, Gabriel Gonzaga, 41 and Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, also 41 and Wanderlei Silva, 44.
But securing 26-year-old VanZant – who featured on Dancing With The Stars and Sports Illustrated – has garnered the most attention.
And Feldman hopes the arrival will spark new interest in bare-knuckle and help bring more eyes to the sport as she debuts against Brittany Hart on Friday.
He explained: “She’s a really good fighter and also what I call an A-lister, a lot of people know her in the celebrity world.
“She was on Dancing with The Stars, Sports Illustrated cover girl, so many different things that made her an attractive signing to us to bring fans that wouldn’t normally have watched.
“People say she’s an ‘Instagram model’ that kind of thing but at the end of the day if you’ve seen her face in some of her fights she was a bloody mess.
“She’s not afraid of bleeding, of getting hit, and this is what this sport is about if you can get hit and throw a punch back you have a good chance of doing well.
“Paige is a tough girl, she didn’t have to come to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, she came over to test herself.
“That says a lot about the kind of fighter and athlete that she is. Am I expecting her to transition well? Yes I am.
“I think she’s going to take a punch well, she’s got a very tough opponent in front of her in Brittany Hart.”
