The reigning WBC heavyweight champion was on the shelf for nearly three years following a historic triumph over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, a result of Fury receiving a two-year suspension from the UK Anti-Doping agency for nandrolone as well as dealing with a public battle with depression. He returned in June 2018 with a win over Sefer Seferi and last February he regained the WBC title by defeating Deontay Wilder.
Speaking from his own experiences, Fury told MMA reporter Gareth A. Davies that he agreed with the theory that UFC star Conor McGregor’s recent loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 was related to inactivity. The two-division champion has competed just twice since October 2018, winning in impressive fashion against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 before falling by second-round TKO to Poirier in January.
McGregor and UFC President Dana White both said after McGregor’s loss that they felt his time off was detrimental to his performance, a sentiment echoed by Fury.
“[McGregor’s] bang on right,” Fury said (h/t The Mac Life). “Conor McGregor fought in 2016, then he had two years out and then he fought Khabib [in 2018]. Then he had another two years out, and then he fought Cerrone [in January 2020]. Then he had another year out, and then he fought this guy, Poirier.
“So inactivity kills the cat, no doubt about it.”
It took Fury six fights to win back the WBC title after returning to competition in 2018. He nearly suffered the first loss of his career when he fought Wilder for the first time in December of that year, miraculously beating the count after what looked to be a sure knockout in the ninth round. Fury and Wilder fought to a split draw, with Fury otherwise out-boxing Wilder for the majority of that bout. In their February 2020 rematch, Fury defeated Wilder by seventh-round TKO to become champion once more.
Seeing McGregor fall short, Fury is certain that a lack of cage time has cost “The Notorious.”
“You lose your timing, you lose your distance, you lose it all,” Fury said. “You lose it all, it’s all gotta be gained back within camps and within fighting.
“If you had three fights on the bounce after you’d never been in the ring for three years, in the third one you’d be ten times better than the first. I’ve always known it. Because I’m a boxing historian I’ve always known about the inactivity.”
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