Ariel Helwani gives props to Tyson Fury for sharing limelight with Francis Ngannou, compares with Kamaru Usman "tugging at" Canelo Alvarez's "coat-tails" 

Ariel Helwani heaped praise on Tyson Fury for sharing the spotlight with Francis Ngannou. He also compared it to the Kamaru Usman-Canelo Alvarez situation, which Helwani thinks is mostly a one-sided attempt from the UFC welterweight champion.

Helwani also gave props to 'The Gypsy King' for seemingly being open to going out of his comfort zone and fighting under a hybrid ruleset. But unlike most boxing fans, the MMA journalist isn't ruling out Ngannou's chances against Fury. Speaking to Fight Hub TV ahead of the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight, the 39-year old said:

"Yeah, 'cause they are gonna fight with MMA gloves supposedly, so why not? It's a different type of thing. Hey, if they let some knees and some kicks, anything. Tyson seems to be open to this sort of thing, which I give him a lot of credit for. Because look, with Canelo and Usman it's kind of like Usman's tugging at his coat-tails. In this regard, Tyson's bringing him [Ngannou] in. He's doing an interview with ESPN, he's like, 'Come here, Francis Ngannou, let me give you the rub.'"

With the rise of the Paul brothers' era in boxing, UFC fighters are rallying for crossover boxing fights with guaranteed lucrative paydays. UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has refused to renew his deal with the promotion if it doesn't allow a crossover super fight against heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.

Meanwhile, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has been rallying for a super fight against boxing's P4P king Canelo Alvarez. While Alvarez seems disinterested for now, Fury recently ushered Ngannou in for an interview with ESPN after his triumphant win over Dillian Whyte at the Wembley Stadium in London.

Watch Helwani weigh in on Ngannou vs. Fury below:

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Chael Sonnen believes it was rude of Francis Ngannou not to take Dana White into confidence

Chael Sonnen was surprised that Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury were able to keep their joint-interview plans under wraps. Sonnen questioned how they could physically hide 'The Predator', given his stature.

'Uncle Chael' assumed that UFC president Dana White was kept in the dark regarding Ngannou's interview plans with Fury. According to Sonnen, it was rude of the UFC heavyweight champion to withhold information that could be of relevance to White. The 45-year-old recently said on his YouTube channel:

"If I were in Dana's shoes and I get tipped off, I will personally leak that to somebody in the media. I am going to take away from whatever this big reveal moment is. Which leads me to believe that Dana didn't know. And that's relevant. It's very relevant because it's very rude."

Watch Sonnen's YouTube video below: