Skip to main content

Beta testing. Real payments work with crypto only. Card payments (Stripe) are test-only for now.

Back to news
MMA
4 min read

Morning Report: Tyson Fury demands ‘coward’ Anthony Joshua sign on for fight, brings in Mike Tyson for backup

Perhaps two Tysons are better than one. Tyson Fury is currently on the warpath as he is determined to convince fellow British boxing star to sign on for a grudge match that has been years in the making. The gears appear to be in motion for the fighters to finally meet in the ring, but [...]
Morning Report: Tyson Fury demands ‘coward’ Anthony Joshua sign on for fight, brings in Mike Tyson for backup

Perhaps two Tysons are better than one.

Tyson Fury is currently on the warpath as he is determined to convince fellow British boxing star to sign on for a grudge match that has been years in the making. The gears appear to be in motion for the fighters to finally meet in the ring, but an official date and location is still pending.

Now, Fury is turning up the pressure and he’s recruiting his namesake, the legendary Mike Tyson, to help him push Joshua’s buttons.

“This is a Wednesday update. Joshua, where are you?” Fury said in an Instagram Stories post. “Still no deal done. It’s getting quite tiring. I’ve been down to fight every location that’s been mentioned. England, Ireland, Vegas, New York, back to England, back to Ireland, back to New York. Listen, I’ve said, ‘Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep,’ every single time. Zero stipulations.

“The facts are I feel like you’re being a coward. I feel like you don’t want the fight and you’re just conning everybody. I feel like you’ve been doing that for years. You’ve had many opportunities to fight me, but deep down you never really wanted it. So let’s see if you’re going to man up the final time. We’re both f*cking 37, 38 years old. Let’s f*cking fight, it’s a boxing match. You’ve been banjo’d before plenty of times. You’ve been knocked spark out a few times, so what? What’s the worst that can happen? I’m going to f*cking chin you, 100 percent, but it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before.”

He also shared a short clip to Instagram featuring himself and Tyson.

In the clip, a smiling Tyson stands by Fury and says to the camera, “He says you’re scared.”

Fury replies, “He’s scared alright, because I’m going to knock his ass spark out, 100 percent. Sign the contract, big boy. You get chinned.”

“You hear that?” Tyson adds.

Fury’s caption also suggests he expects to fight Joshua at Madison Square Garden in New York as opposed to a location in the U.K. At the moment, that appears to be Fury’s preferred destination based on his social media activity.

Fury and Joshua are both coming off of wins against Mariusz Wach and Kristian Prenga, respectively, in bouts that were scheduled as tune-ups for their eventual meeting. Neither performances were met with much acclaim and fans are still left waiting to hear if the dream matchup is ever actually going to happen.

Rankings. Song Yadong is unequivocally a top 5 bantamweight after pulling off arguably the biggest upset of 2026.

Concern. Bella Mir hopes to avoid the kind of damage taken by her UFC heavyweight champion father Frank Mir.

Safety. Eddie Hearn says Tom Aspinall’s eyes need “additional testing” before he can fight again.

Fun. Justin Gaethje would enjoy getting the chance to shut Conor McGregor up.

Watch a brand new Between the Links live at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT.

Katie Taylor’s final pre-fight open workout.

Daniel Cormier and Jorge Masvidal.

UFC Paris press conference.

The definitive fight week schedule.

Shakur Stevenson takes on Lil Monster.

Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns (wrestling); RAF 13, Sept. 18

Aline Pereira (3-2) vs. Smilla Sundell (2-0); Dana White’s Contender Series, Oct. 13

Don’t call it a comeback!

I know it's been done & that season won't be topped, but what's everyone's opinion on them trying that out again? I think they could make it work with the two most populated weight classes, LW and WW (I'm assuming they have more releases to choose from), but of course without the promise of a title shot this go-around.

Rec 2ReplyRead 20 replies

I’m still sad The Ultimate Fighter 34 is over. Look out for my season finale recap alongside Xavier Franklin later today.

If Tom Aspinall isn't back this year, will the UFC eventually strip him of his title?

Let me make a couple of things clear here, were it up to ME, I'd probably give Tom Aspinall until at least end of Q1 2027 before I drew the hard line and forced him to relinquish the UFC heavyweight title. I also believe Eddie Hearn when he says Aspinall has some more testing to do for his eyes but "he wants to get back in there as soon as he is physically able to do so.”

Right now, we have an interim champion in Ciryl Gane who just so happens to be coming off of a high-profile win over Alex Pereira, and the UFC still has a few more main events to fill before the end of 2026. If Gane is called into action, will the UFC put a vacant heavyweight title on the line?

What do you all think? Are we running out of patience or is it OK to let Aspinall take his sweet time?

Rec 3ReplyRead 41 replies

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKLee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and like us on Facebook.

Comments0

Your sport, all in one place

MMA

Follow the stories, and hear of new ones in your feed and notifications.

Picks to explore

All MMA picks

About this story and its source

Who published the story, when it came out, and where to read more.

It was published on September 3, 2026 and last updated on October 9, 2026. The time of the story is shown in your own time zone on the page.

Open the MMA news for more stories, or see the matches with analyst picks and the list of analysts to compare their records before you buy a pick.