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

[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!

[Beanflicker]

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.

[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. 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.

[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.

[beenKOed]

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.

[Beanflicker]

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.

[Beanflicker]

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.

[tysonesque]

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.

[Beanflicker]

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

He would have had a great power double, too.

[Spicoli]

Don King couldn't and wouldn't work with Bob Arum for matches...can you imagine his sitting in a room with Dana White 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

[Beanflicker]

Nobody could brawl like prime Mike!

[Kirkland Laing]

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.

[Vendettos]

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.

[Beanflicker]

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

[Master]

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.