Prime Mike Tyson In UFC

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 8/03/2012 1:31pm

Ok it's time for this...

**atomicpoet** · Posted On: 8/03/2012 2:41pm

Originally Posted by goodlun

But I would imagine that being a pressure fighter in MMA isn't a good idea because of that whole grappling thing.

Yeah, I thought about that too, but a lot of boxers who come from wrestling end up being pressure fighters. Pawel Wolak is a good example of this. In fact, he used his knowledge of wrestling to become a better pressure fighter.

It will be interesting to see what happens to him once he makes the transition from boxing to MMA. Will he still use his skills as a pressure fighter? Will it be effective?

Originally Posted by Syphilis

But if Mike Tyson, in his prime, transfered to MMA, I think it would go like brock lesnar; first he' get exposed by a jiujitsu guy, then he learns basic defense and starts powering through some guys again, unless they have elite level jiujitsu skills. (But Iron Mike isn't a quitter).

We see this question get asked a lot about elite athletes in combat sports. A common question in boxing circles is, "What if Anderson Silva was a pro boxer instead of in UFC?"

Well, actually we do know because it happened. He got KOed in 1998 by a cab driver — one who was 11-2 at the time, but still, not someone who was anywhere elite. In 2005, he returned to boxing and won by KO against a guy making his debut. He did okay, but probably never would have been the next Eder Jofre.

A lot of people don't know Vitali Klitschko once was a professional kickboxer either, compiling a record of 34-1 with 22 KOs. That's pretty good, but nowhere near as dominant as he is in boxing where he has a 87% KO ratio.

Mike Tyson could have been dominant in MMA. But if he were, I feel he'd have to change everything that made him unique as a fighter. For one thing, he'd probably have to stop being a peekaboo fighter. In my opinion, the chances of him being successful at MMA is exceedingly slim.

Originally Posted by W. Rabbit

The younger crowd may not get this since they didn't grow up watching his fights, but Mike Tyson was not just a power puncher...he was very light on his feet and agile for his size...I think the perspective that he was just a bruiser is inaccurate...you're talking about one of the most powerful, fastest, accurate strikers in the history of pugilism

He was actually a small heavyweight, so if he was going to have success at all, it would be due to him having superior speed and footwork. Nevertheless, he always had struggles against heavyweight who were bigger than him and he couldn't intimidate

Here's what Emanuel Steward thinks about Mike Tyson:

I was fortunate enough to know Mike since he was probably about 13 or 14 when I saw him in the Junior Olympics. But what you have to remember about Mike Tyson, to me he’s one of the fighters I respect so much for what he did for being a small man, because he was still a small heavyweight. The biggest thing he had was his speed and intensity over a lot of big guys, when they were not prepared or well enough coordinated to deal with that. But the big guys who were not afraid of Mike and had any boxing skills, he had a problem with because Mike was a little guy. What he accomplished was phenomenal, but if you look at his history—‘Quick’ Tillis, Mitch Green, a fighter that I was managing at the time Tony Tucker, ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith. All of those big guys who were not afraid of Mike, and even Tony Tucker was giving him a hell of a fight until Tony’s daddy, who was in the corner, came up and told him to slow down because Mike was dangerous.

Mike had problems with big guys! He was still a small guy that was really almost like a cruiserweight, and those big guys who were not afraid of him, all of them he struggled with. So when you look back at history I cannot think of why Lennox—who had more skills than and was just as big as a Mitch Green, ‘Bonecrusher’, Tony Tucker, and ‘Quick Tillis’—wouldn’t have beaten him! Lennox was still a big man, and you have to remember Mike was a little guy. I don’t think Mike would have ever beaten Lennox, because Lennox could box and Lennox could be rough guy, too, when he had to be. I don’t think he would have been able to get to him like some of those big uncoordinated guys who were either afraid or were not well coordinated. So it’s just the case where Mike was a phenomenal fighter, but with the big guys size still matters. You’re going to fight a guy who’s 240-250, with skills, solid amateur background, went through two Olympics—no, I don’t think he could have done anything.

In my opinion, I feel Mike Tyson is overrated by a lot of people on this forum. It's not to say his accomplishments weren't great. They were. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and think that Mike Tyson was this unstoppable boxing machine.

Let's not forget that Mike Tyson was 5'10", and in his prime weighed around 220lbs (give or take). How would he do against Junior dos Santos who is 6'4" and weighs 240lbs? I think he would lose.

He would probably also lose against Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, and Frank Mir.

**brclry** · Posted On: 8/04/2012 3:09pm

The thing I dont see in the example with Dorsey compared to Tyson, is the finishing strategy. Tyson closes to finish just about everytime, and (using a term in my style, for lack of better) intercepts, attacking on the initiation, extension, or retraction of his opponant.

I think its Tysons ability to do this so effectivley that sets him apart from other Peekaboo boxers, and the attribute that would serve him best in MMA.

I dont think these attributes would evolve naturaly in MMA, scientific in-fighting like this evolved after the marquis de queensbury rules, because they facilitate a different range of fighting. If he learned the rest of the game, or someone trained very hard to gain similar attributes, I think it would take MMA boxing to the next level, and we could possibly see some non-classical trapping to close range. (but thats proly just my BL fan boy muscle flexing again) : )