Any UFC fighter vs. Mike Tyson

Hold On Now wrote:

Some of you guys have a very misinformed opinion of combat sports. This "one punch is all it would take" train of thought is nonsense.

Yes, a prime Mike Tyson would stand a good chance of knocking out any UFC fighter in an MMA fight. But to credit him with magical Death Touch power looks ignorant to anyone who has trained combat sports even a little bit.

Could he land a goodnight punch before an ex-olympic wrestler or ADCC champion took him to the ground? Maybe, but to speak about that situation in absolutes is idiotic.

O.K., two punches. I don't think you get it. In order to take someone down you've got to get close. Tyson is as quick as any UFC fighter so, you're telling us that they can get in and take down one of the best boxers ever before he can get a couple punches in? And even if he does get taken down...then what? You're talking about Mike Tyson, not some guy at the local gym. No way any UFC fighter takes down Tyson in his prime.

The guys at the top of the UFC Heavyweight division are all former NCAA All-American wrestlers. They could take Tyson down at will. Once they get on top of him, he's done. He wouldn't even get any shots off from the bottom, since he would be too busy eating elbows and punches.

Good analysis. I would point out that the premise of this question is that they go at it in a UFC fight, obviously the UFC fighter wins, thats his game, even though Tyson's talents will have some transfer. Its akin to asking if Bolt could beat El Guerrouj in a tactical 1500, sure Bolt's speed would transfer over, but El G is still in his realm.

The fairer question is who wins between Tyson and one of the UFC's greats in a street fight. I would contend that Tyson would win, off of experience alone, that mf'er was ghetto and went to prison. I hypothesize that Tyson has the most street fighting experience and victories of anyone in the world.

Overrated wrote:

The guys at the top of the UFC Heavyweight division are all former NCAA All-American wrestlers. They could take Tyson down at will. Once they get on top of him, he's done. He wouldn't even get any shots off from the bottom, since he would be too busy eating elbows and punches.

How is he going to take him down before he gets knocked out?

As soon as the fight started Tyson would move in quick and be done. He would land a punch before any UFC fighter could try any type of move. I guarantee any professional fighter would be freaking out knowing they'd be up against getting hit even once by Tyson.

woah.. i think dominick cruz or frankie edgar could easily take mike tyson. their too quick, over in 20 seconds

Tyson hitting you without boxing gloves would be devastating. If he hit you while standing up, it would be over. Tyson was also very, very quick. Give Tyson 1 month to prepare and Im not so sure most UFC fighters would take him.

Impossible. Boxing is real fight. MMA/UFC is a stage show.

oh please wrote:

long dong silver wrote:

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This. In a boxing match though, nobody from history beats mike tyson in his prime.

Umm ever heard of Buster Douglas?

I'd bet that Tyson has entertained the idea of UFC, but has likely been talked out of it as he would get KTFO.

the tyson that came up in 85-86 and beat spinks would stand a REAL good shot in a UFC fight if only because of those dinky gloves they wear. no one in the hispotry of that stupid bastard-sport has ever absorbed a punch like on of tyson's uppercuts.

Not to take anything away from Iron Mike, cause he was obviously a hell of a talent, but it's obvious that a lot of the people commenting have never watched an elite UFC card and have no idea what it takes to be a successful high level MMA fighter.

In a boxing match, clearly Tyson wins. In an MMA fight, he obviously has a shot, but I'll take a top level MMA guy.

For people that truly understand MMA, which current fighter do you think would give Tyson the best fight? Cain? JDS? GPS? Cruz?

a real man would take them both at the same time

XY wrote:

Tyson hitting you without boxing gloves would be devastating. If he hit you while standing up, it would be over. Tyson was also very, very quick. Give Tyson 1 month to prepare and Im not so sure most UFC fighters would take him.

Really? Is it your assessment that nobody in the UFC has any quickness? A lot of people on this thread seem to be working under the dillusion that mma fighters work at a turtles pace. I've seen Tyson fight. He was quick but not quicker then every single fighter in the UFC. Certainly not quick enough to ko every ufc fighter as soon as the bell rings without a reaction from the opponent. I would love to see Tyson against Jon Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champ. Jones has good quickness, a crazy 84.5 inch reach, a long and tall frame and very good wrestling. His length and quickness would make it quite difficult to get a quick knock out. He can stay out of harms way as he initiates the lock up. Tyson could not prevent a takedown from Jones when locked up and Jones has great ground and pound. It would be a very difficult match up for Tyson.

Also, the threat of a takedown or leg kick would force Tyson to change his stance and ability to charge in. He wouldn't be able to simply tee off in most fights. MMA fighters work boxing and footwork as well but they have many other skills Tyson has not trained for. An elite grappler could defeat Tyson.

chilsen wrote:

Not to take anything away from Iron Mike, cause he was obviously a hell of a talent, but it's obvious that a lot of the people commenting have never watched an elite UFC card and have no idea what it takes to be a successful high level MMA fighter.

In a boxing match, clearly Tyson wins. In an MMA fight, he obviously has a shot, but I'll take a top level MMA guy.

For people that truly understand MMA, which current fighter do you think would give Tyson the best fight? Cain? JDS? GPS? Cruz?

Only chance any UFC fighter has is to take him down, so I would go Cain>Lesnar(if healthy)>Carwin. They would all have significant weight advantages as well. If Tyson were to fight in the UFC, it would probably be at LHW though. I could see Rampage, Couture, and Hendo (in their primes)all giving him a good run. I think the most entertaining would have to be Rampage and Tyson both in their primes.

I'm going to make this very simple: Yes, Mike Tyson could knock out any UFC fighter. Is it possible that he would also get taken down by an olympic/NCAA wrestler or a world class submission grappler? OF COURSE. Once again, you have never trained mixed martial arts if you cannot concede this point.

And what would a grappler to do him on the ground? What the f*** do you think? Being a world class athlete does not somehow make you immune to submissions and top control. What's he going to do, use his athleticism to magically outgrapple someone who has been training and competing in that discipline their entire lives? Being a good boxer does not make you a good grappler - they're entirely different kinds of athleticism. Grappling requires a great deal more endurance, and Mike Tyson was not exactly known for his gas tank.

The mystique around Mike Tyson causes every f***ing shmo who's watched a highlight reel to claim expertise. Mike Tyson is a big fan of MMA, and he would be the first to set you straight.

Having had some fighting experience...

The assumption so far is that MMA wouldn't match up with Tyson standing up, and would therefore go to ground.

A couple of things:

1) do not underestimate the ability of leg kicks, abdominal kids, and straight abdominal knees to keep a standing opponent at bay, wary of coming in

2) there are ways to avoid a takedown, if you know it's coming, especially if you're quick on your feet and have good balance, both of which traits Tyson had in his prime

3) everyone assumes Tyson has no intrinsic grappling skills. Sure he's not trained, but he is quick and powerful. If, IF he could get himself into a favorable defensive posture, then he would stand a good chance of shutting down the ground and pound.

4) the fight wouldn't go to the finish. Tyson is too much of a fighter, and would be DQ'd early--I don't think he'd have the discipline in a grappling situation to stick to the rules

5) even some of the bigger MMA heavyweights can't take a punch, because they don't know how to hold their head, and end up taking the full energy of the punch when they don't have to

Against a disciplined, intelligent MMA fighter, Tyson would lose.

Against an undisciplined idiot he would have a shot, especially if the undisciplined idiot's ground game was weak.

Tyson was good as far as he went--I actually think at one point his boxing skills were exemplary. But boxing is a very narrow discipline, and Tyson's skills were developed for a narrow range within that narrow discipline. He couldn't even handle boxers outside his range within the narrow discipline of boxing.

And the whole "one punch from Tyson and it's over" mentality is over-rated. First of all he has to land the punch; second of all, there are plenty of guys who have been able to absorb more than one punch from him, and survive to win, even in boxing.

I'd much rather have seen either Lewis, Frazier, Ali, or Foreman in MMA than Tyson--I think they were better all-arounder's, they were all more disciplined, and they could all absorb far more punishment than Tyson.

Sprint Geezer wrote:

4) the fight wouldn't go to the finish. Tyson is too much of a fighter, and would be DQ'd early--I don't think he'd have the discipline in a grappling situation to stick to the rules

Haha, this is probably a very good point. I was watching some old Wanderlei videos from way back and just watching him attack dudes through the ropes was out of control. I could see Tyson doing a lot of the same, except in any legit sanctioned MMA that's a no-go nowadays.

I am not really a boxing nor UFC fan but I do remember watching Tyson in his prime. There was a fairly brief period, before he went over the bend when Tyson was pretty amazing. Most of his fights were over in under 30 seconds. There wouldn't be enough time for a UFC guy to take him to ground, it would seem to me.

towhee26 wrote:

I am not really a boxing nor UFC fan but I do remember watching Tyson in his prime. There was a fairly brief period, before he went over the bend when Tyson was pretty amazing. Most of his fights were over in under 30 seconds. There wouldn't be enough time for a UFC guy to take him to ground, it would seem to me.

Do you think the UFC guy is really stupid enough to make it a boxing match with Tyson? They would obviously keep their distance and look for an opportunity to take it to the ground. In boxing, Tyson could get as close as he wanted and the only thing he had to worry about was taking punches, he wouldn't have that luxury in UFC - the threat of kicks and takedowns changes the dynamic immensely.

ufc and mma are staged like a soap opera show. boxing is a sport on the otherhand.