The striker vs grappler dynamic is even older than modern MMA and there aren’t many better men to put it to the test today than Victor Hugo and Tyson Fury. Both men have specialised in one particular form of combat sport and they’re among the very best in the world at it. They would each be the heavy favorite in their own particular areas but outside of that, would be the heavy underdog instead. Obviously a fight between Hugo and Fury is purely speculative because neither man has shown any real desire to transition to MMA, but that hasn’t stopped Hugo from speculating.
He recently appeared on an episode of the Simple Man podcast and although he said he wasn’t interested in doing MMA, a fight against Fury is something he’s at least caught himself thinking about:
“Sometimes I get on this trip, I’m like ‘Man, I think if me and Tyson Fury get into a fight, I think I can take him down and like rear-naked (choke) his a**’”
Hugo is far from the first elite grappler to talk about fighting Fury, and Gordon Ryan actually shared a similar statement before. Hugo reiterated that he thought he would win in a fight, even if boxers are generally more well-known and paid much more than grapplers:
“That guy, he’s worth so much money but if it was actually a fight, I think I could take him.”
Hugo did concede that there’s obviously a path to victory for a striker who is up against a grappler, but he still sees the fight only going one way:
“I think they could tag us, maybe get tagged with the jab or something, but once you close the distance what’s there for them?”
The full interview with Victor Hugo where he talks about his chances of beating Tyson Fury in a fight was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of the Simple Man Podcast:
