Mike Tyson would have been a boxing and UFC HW champ.... at the same time

Mike was more than the baddest HW who ever lived. He was built for true combat and would have been an Ultimate Fighter if he came around 20 years after he did.

I can see Iron Mike fighting both boxing and MMA... and kicking ass in both!

He was a genetic freak, he was a boxer but had the strong build of a wrestler with giant legs and neck. I wish I could have seen him take someone's jaw clean off punching with a tiny MMA glove. He could defend the takedown for sure, unlike most top-heavy HW's with skinny-ass chicken legs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvQTyHE2c5M

Mike Tyson is truly the baddest HW in history.

I very much doubt it.

If you were Jim Jacobs in 88 and Tyson had just beaten Spinks for $20 million would you really go to the UFC for peanuts?

I think the highest they reckon they have paid anyone is $5 million but even that is hard to believe.

When Toney faced Couture Toney was paid $500,000 to Coutures $250,000. A faded boxer earnt twice than their biggest draw!

I dont think it would have happened until he was at the end of his career and the big money fights were drying up. Jacobs would never have risked his investment for peanuts.

Say Mike breaks a limb and is out for a couple of years rehabilitating. What earnings would you lose? You would need that figure to be at least matched which would have been astronomical.

Mayweather will make more money this year than the entire UFC roster is paid, by far more. Ross is right

Im not against mma fighters but I see it a single discipline fighter like a qualified tradesmen, whereas an mma fighter is a handyman.

They fight for money and why would you fight for less money?

Beanflicker might be right anyway, that prime Mike Tyson might have done it for fun. Who knows it might have kept him out trouble (doubtful but possible). Lol
It would have been fun to watch Mike KO most of his opponents but sooner or later a big wrestler would have taken him down and submitted him or beat the hell out of him.
It's too bad MMA came along too late for Tyson, with some training Tyson would have been a monster.

Well this isn't really a question of whether or not it would be financially adventageous to do both.

But the fact remains that the UFC HW champ is considered the baddest man on the planet, not the boxer.

I think Mike's competitive spirit would force him to set up a super fight with the UFC champ to become the true baddest man on the planet.

And Dana White would open his wallet for Tyson. He wouldn't make boxing money but he'd make low 8 figures I'd say.

But my point is, Mike Tyson COULD HAVE been the champ of both if he wanted to. He was a true combat athlete.

If Tyson wanted to he may have been able to but I think someone would have snapped Tyson's knee.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Well this isn't really a question of whether or not it would be financially adventageous to do both.

But the fact remains that the UFC HW champ is considered the baddest man on the planet, not the boxer.

I think Mike's competitive spirit would force him to set up a super fight with the UFC champ to become the true baddest man on the planet.

And Dana White would open his wallet for Tyson. He wouldn't make boxing money but he'd make low 8 figures I'd say.

But my point is, Mike Tyson COULD HAVE been the champ of both if he wanted to. He was a true combat athlete.

---

Hmmm, I dont think so.

I think you may be more aware of mma than I am but even if I asked someone on the street who the biggest and best fighter is on the planet they would have a think and maybe some will say Lennox Lewis but most would probably say Wladimir Klitschko and I doubt any know the name of the current UFC heavy champ. Im not even sure in fact as laughable as it is I know of caine Velasquez and thats nly because Tyson Fury was talking about him but iv got no odea if hes even a champion.

The last time I saw a former heavyweight boxer fight a UFC champ, Mercer knocked Tim Silvia cold;D

You would never see a UFC fighter come in to boxing and KO the champ or even a top contender. In that respect, top boxers have done better than top mma fighters in the transition because top mma fighters just will not do it because they know they will be vulnerable. Boxers are a bit deluded in to thinking although correctly that they have more skill with their fists but that this will be enough. I am also well aare that people like Botha have taken many losses in mma and bad ones and Al Cole, Mayorga, Phillips etc. Even Butterbean had some good wins in mma when he could no longer box at any kind of level. Its only ever been washed up boxers who have transitioned so really we will never know. If Dana White was to put his hands in his pockets and offer Klitschko £100,000,000 to fight his heavy champ but schedule it a year from now Wlad would have more success than an mma fighter given a year to get ready to box him and I think we can all agree on that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ross

I think you may be more aware of mma than I am but even if I asked someone on the street who the biggest and best fighter is on the planet they would have a think and maybe some will say Lennox Lewis but most would probably say Wladimir Klitschko and I doubt any know the name of the current UFC heavy champ.

---

Might be different in England, maybe MMA doesn't have the fanbase it does overseas.

But for sure the #1 baddest man on the planet is the UFC champion. MMA is a complete fighting sport, boxing is a small percentage of what the body can do.

There's no current boxing champion that wouldn't get murdered by an MMA champ of comparable weight right now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ross

I think you may be more aware of mma than I am but even if I asked someone on the street who the biggest and best fighter is on the planet they would have a think and maybe some will say Lennox Lewis but most would probably say Wladimir Klitschko and I doubt any know the name of the current UFC heavy champ.

---

Might be different in England, maybe MMA doesn't have the fanbase it does overseas.

But for sure the #1 baddest man on the planet is the UFC champion. MMA is a complete fighting sport, boxing is a small percentage of what the body can do.

There's no current boxing champion that wouldn't get murdered by an MMA champ of comparable weight right now.

---

In mma? Maybe...

The same can 100% be said visa versa.

Give me an example of a top mma fighter who has transitioned and even had moderate success in boxing.

Kickboxers can do it better tyan mma fighters but imagine an mma fighter thrown in a boxing match and how hard you would laugh and cringe at how poor their technique is;D

Imagine chick liddell in with Kovalev (I Dont know who Liddells contemporary is now);D.

Beanflicker, who wins Mike Tyson vs Fedor Emelianenko prime MMA?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ross

In mma? Maybe..

---

Without question. And in a real fight as well.

Boxing is a very limited art, especially compared with Thai boxing, which uses almost every part of your body to attack.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by beenKOed

Beanflicker, who wins Mike Tyson vs Fedor Emelianenko prime MMA?

---

Fedor would murder him. Mike would get taken down or thrown, and at that point Fedor could do what he wanted to him. Choke him out, break his arm, pound him, do whatever.

But if Mike had trained seriously, I think Mike could have been a great MMA fighter, maybe the greatest ever.

A boxer could just go up and knock the guy out and blindside him and it be over Ufc fighters cant take a punch worth a shit. Cain getting his ass kicked recently showed me he is far from the baddest man in the planet really. Fedor i respect and i am happy he is coming back he was a joy to watch over the year. I won't think the badest man in the planet till they pay more money and the sport been around more then 20 years the talent pool is not even close to other sports.

Also when you have fighters that are becoming the best at 10 to 15 fights i got to think this sport lacks talent and the pool needs some work. The reason the athletes are not there because beside the America and Brazil the sport is not huge it died out hard in Japan and Russia. I mean how can you be the baddest man when the talent pool not even world wide which boxing is. If our hw did not suck we would not have to lean on other sports so much and i like the Ufc but is is far from being elite level comp. As for real fight thats stupid because the Ufc has blankets the just cover and score points it worse then boxing. I think the sport will be better when there not a monopoly on it and the fighters get paid something worth it and not chump change. Never going to get great talent with out the money to pay them not happening.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by beenKOed

Beanflicker, who wins Mike Tyson vs Fedor Emelianenko prime MMA?

---

Fedor would murder him. Mike would get taken down or thrown, and at that point Fedor could do what he wanted to him. Choke him out, break his arm, pound him, do whatever.

But if Mike had trained seriously, I think Mike could have been a great MMA fighter, maybe the greatest ever.

---

I agree!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr140

Also when you have fighters that are becoming the best at 10 to 15 fights i got to think this sport lacks talent and the pool needs some work. The reason the athletes are not there because beside the America and Brazil the sport is not huge it died out hard in Japan and Russia. I mean how can you be the baddest man when the talent pool not even world wide which boxing is. If our hw did not suck we would not have to lean on other sports so much and i like the Ufc but is is far from being elite level comp. As for real fight thats stupid because the Ufc has blankets the just cover and score points it worse then boxing. I think the sport will be better when there not a monopoly on it and the fighters get paid something worth it and not chump change. Never going to get great talent with out the money to pay them not happening.

---

MMA is big all over and gaining ground. More and more young people are getting into it.

And no, a boxer can't just go in and punch someone because he'll either get taken down or leg kicked to oblivion. Especially heavyweight boxers, who are just sitting ducks for any decent MMA fighter, or really any good thai boxer for that matter.

Oh really in a street fight with the reach of some of the heavyweight champs dont think they could get a sucker punch on someone and end it. It is really dumb to say a real fight because thats not how it goes down in boxing ring or ufc ring. The talent pool is still shit compared to boxing it is big is Brazil and America thats it not large pool of fighters at all so not much of a talent pool. The money to made in the ufc is a joke compared to most sports won see any top paid fighters Forbes. I know you watch the sport atleast i think you do and you must know it is only big in a few places and the pay is shit and should be changed if talent is going to get better really. Saying Cain is the baddest man while defeating few people twice we all see how that when with Werdum who fucking owned him a fucking old man by fighting standards. Then you have the bw, lw, mw and lhw losing there belts fucking guys with barely 10 fucking fights. The craft of a ufc fighter is something to be thought of as pretty weak but sport is young and the money is shit by any standard of were you are ok to elite needs alot of work.

As a long time detractor and doubter of mma until recent, the tool and art of getting and working a guy off his feet can negate everything. Its not pretty at times but you have five (?) glaring spots to be bent, choked, or whateva else they do and all the time the puncher is only thinking about stumbling to his feet. That said mma is still a babe in the woods and can be equally shit. We've just seen a lifetime of boxing compared. In matches, action and result. Boxing is the adult in the room and frankly I hate kicking.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr140

Also when you have fighters that are becoming the best at 10 to 15 fights i got to think this sport lacks talent and the pool needs some work. The reason the athletes are not there because beside the America and Brazil the sport is not huge it died out hard in Japan and Russia. I mean how can you be the baddest man when the talent pool not even world wide which boxing is. If our hw did not suck we would not have to lean on other sports so much and i like the Ufc but is is far from being elite level comp. As for real fight thats stupid because the Ufc has blankets the just cover and score points it worse then boxing. I think the sport will be better when there not a monopoly on it and the fighters get paid something worth it and not chump change. Never going to get great talent with out the money to pay them not happening.

---

I don't think anyone is saying boxing is better than MMA or vice versa. I'll always be a boxing fan and I'll always be an MMA fan.
Could Mike Tyson have been a great MMA fighter? Yes, with plenty of training. Could Mike Tyson have switched to MMA and possibly even captured a title on his boxing alone? Yes, but he could not hold it for long.
Could an MMA title holder capture a boxing title. I don't think so because boxing is limited to hand strikes only and has a unique set of rules to enforce that.
Boxing and MMA will always be linked because hand strikes are a huge part of MMA. That's why most MMA fighters do a lot of sparring with pro boxers at times.
A lot of boxing fans look down on MMA because it looks like a school yard fight at times. In other words two guys rolling around locked together on a mat. The truth is, MMA has advanced a couple of lightyears beyond any school yard fight I ever saw.
I like them both, that one to one contest is hard for me to turn away from.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr140

Oh really in a street fight with the reach of some of the heavyweight champs dont think they could get a sucker punch on someone and end it.

---

LOL bro, if I got "sucker punch" in on a boxing champ I could end it, so could a lot of guys posting here.

We're talking about unarmed competition, and no, a boxer has very little chance against an MMA fighter.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Spicoli

As a long time detractor and doubter of mma until recent, the tool and art of getting and working a guy off his feet can negate everything. Its not pretty at times but you have five (?) glaring spots to be bent, choked, or whateva else they do and all the time the puncher is only thinking about stumbling to his feet. That said mma is still a babe in the woods and can be equally shit. We've just seen a lifetime of boxing compared. In matches, action and result. Boxing is the adult in the room and frankly I hate kicking.

---

Yeah and I love both sports and have for a long time, I don't favor one over the other in terms of being a spectator. A great boxing match gets me excited and a great MMA match gets me excited. Both can have boring fights.

I'm speaking specifically on the fighting art. Myself I trained boxing when I was younger and then started training muay thai a few years back, and I can say first hand you don't know pain until you take a hard leg kick from someone.

Boxing is a great art but obviously it's a very limited art, fighting only with the hands. In muay thai you can use your hands, elbows, forearm, knees and feet. And obviously with MMA you can wrestle, you can throw, and you can submit.

I worked as a bouncer when I was younger, I've seen a lot of bar fights and 99% involve grappling at some point. If you're fighting someone who knows judo you're going to get thrown and land on your head.

To be honest, the way Tyson fought sometimes, I think he was a UFC fighter! The way he decked Ruddock by punching him and kicking his legs out from under him at the same time was pretty impressive.

Tyson would have been a mean leg kicker with those big legs he had.

He would have had a great power double, too.

Don King couldn't and wouldn't work with Bob Arum for matches...can you imagine his sitting in a room with Dana White ;D Joe Rogan over in the corner, arms folded chewing on his lower lip.

Just realized the ufc did not have a hvy champ until 1997? So we're talking ear munching, arm twisting swing on uniformed security Tyson. Perfect timing ;D

Nobody could brawl like prime Mike!

Assuming the UFC was a PPV business and as big a brand as it is now back when Tyson was in his prime then a world champion Tyson fighting their top guy would be the biggest PPV event ever, particularly if the UFC guy was white. The UFC would go for it as it would give them huge publicity. It's a win for them whether their guy wins or loses. They'd happily give Tyson a 60-40 split or an even bigger split to get the fight made.

For Tyson's side there's the potential for a massive loss. You can't be the baddest man on the planet if you've lost to the UFC guy. It's not like Tyson was having problems making money without having to fight the UFC guy so it's highly unlikely the Tyson people would entertain the fight no matter what the split was.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ross

I very much doubt it.

If you were Jim Jacobs in 88 and Tyson had just beaten Spinks for $20 million would you really go to the UFC for peanuts?

I think the highest they reckon they have paid anyone is $5 million but even that is hard to believe.

When Toney faced Couture Toney was paid $500,000 to Coutures $250,000. A faded boxer earnt twice than their biggest draw!

I dont think it would have happened until he was at the end of his career and the big money fights were drying up. Jacobs would never have risked his investment for peanuts.

Say Mike breaks a limb and is out for a couple of years rehabilitating. What earnings would you lose? You would need that figure to be at least matched which would have been astronomical.

---

This ^ guy is a prick

But he is right here.. Far too much finacial risk.

It makes no sense financially, but I imagine that Tyson's pride would force him into it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

It makes no sense financially, but I imagine that Tyson's pride would force him into it.

---

Pride does not mean he wants to be beaten by someone lying on the floor and swiping his legs. Forget that.

Tyson would hit them once it's all over, sted head bums.;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Master

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

It makes no sense financially, but I imagine that Tyson's pride would force him into it.

---

Pride does not mean he wants to be beaten by someone lying on the floor and swiping his legs. Forget that.

---

He'd learn to defend the takedown and keep it standing.

The good thing about Mike is his low centre of gravity, it'd be easier for him to get his hips low and stuff the shot.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Master

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

It makes no sense financially, but I imagine that Tyson's pride would force him into it.

---

Pride does not mean he wants to be beaten by someone lying on the floor and swiping his legs. Forget that.

---

He'd learn to defend the takedown and keep it standing.

The good thing about Mike is his low centre of gravity, it'd be easier for him to get his hips low and stuff the shot.

---

Why bother learning another trade/skill, took years to perfect boxing and opponents would target his non-boxing abilities to beat him. It is a headache he would not need or be covered on his insurance. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Master

Why bother learning another trade/skill, took years to perfect boxing and opponents would target his non-boxing abilities to beat him. It is a headache he would not need or be covered on his insurance. :)

---

Never to late to learn a new skill.

Mike's such a warrior that he'd get sick of people constantly saying that the UFC champ would fuck him up. Mike wanted to be the god of war on earth, and he'd have to beat the UFC champ in MMA to be that.

Wlad doesn't get pestered with it because people don't really give a fuck about him in North America, but with a popular champ like Mike everyone would demand the fight.

Wouldn't take Mike too long, he's a great athlete already so he'd just need to go to a A-level camp, learn to check leg kicks, learns to stuff the takedown and learn some submission defence and scrambles/sweeps to get back to his feet. Then he could lay some motherfuckers out.

Guys would be so afraid of his power and explosiveness that they'd telegraph their shot and shoot from far out, and he could catch them with an uppercut on the way in.

Can't even imagine Mike hitting guys with those baby MMA gloves. He'd be straight up ending careers.

Broken cheek bones, noses, jaws, orbital bones, ahhh man! Mike was the best.

http://cdn.rsvlts.com/wp-content/upl...on-GIF-061.gif

Mike would break his hands. I know I sound like his manager but the risks are too huge. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Master

Mike would break his hands. I know I sound like his manager but the risks are too huge. :)

---

Yeah the hand thing is a big concern too. I'd say his managers and promoters would be begging him, but he was such a megalomaniac alpha male back then that I'd say he would have told them to fuck off and done it anyway.

We're talking about a guy who offered a zoo worker money to let him go into the gorilla cage and fight a silverback. He's borderline retarded.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Master

Mike would break his hands. I know I sound like his manager but the risks are too huge. :)

---

Yeah the hand thing is a big concern too. I'd say his managers and promoters would be begging him, but he was such a megalomaniac alpha male back then that I'd say he would have told them to fuck off and done it anyway.

We're talking about a guy who offered a zoo worker money to let him go into the gorilla cage and fight a silverback. He's borderline retarded.

---

Tyson was not that mad, he was smart.

Mike Tyson was in Tokyo preparing for fight with Tubbs and he was in with a sumo wrestler and backed off when they were starting to fight.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Master

Tyson was not that mad, he was smart.

---

Agreed!

He's smart... not like everyone says... like, dumb. He's smart!!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Godfather2.jpg

I'm funny looking how, I mean, funny looking like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny looking, ...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sYhc_BHR_6...LLAS_funny.jpg