Dana White is “not thrilled” about legendary heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson fighting again.
In November 2020, Tyson, 54 at the time, fought Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round exhibition boxing match scored a draw. Although ‘Iron’ exceeded expectations, the family and friends of the former world champion hoped he would officially hang up the gloves and never fight again.
Since then, Tyson turned down several high-paying boxing matches, including a rumored $20 million offer to face Evander Holyfield. The 57-year-old finally received an opportunity he liked, as he decided to return on July 20 for an eight-round boxing match against 27-year-old Jake Paul.
Tyson’s close friend, UFC CEO Dana White, had this to say about the controversial matchup during an appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast:
“I love Mike [Tyson], and I hate talking about this because he always gets mad when I talk about this stuff. I’m not thrilled to see him do this stuff. When the fight happens, he will be 58 years old. It’ll be a 31-year age difference between these two. Jake Paul did fight a kid his age and he lost. I saw this thing on the internet yesterday, I re-posted where it say if he beats Mike Tyson, he’s going to fight Clint Eastwood next. Clint Eastwood is 93 years old. I don’t know, man.”
White also had this to say about why Paul wants to fight Tyson:
“What Jake wants is Jake wants to make money. The people that follow Jake Paul don’t buy Jake Paul’s fight. So, Jake Paul has to fight people that can actually sell pay-per-views.”
Watch a portion of White’s comments about Paul vs. Tyson below:
Dana White is NOT a fan of Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson:
“I love Mike… but when the fight happens he’s gonna be 58 years old. It’ll be a 31 year age difference.
Jake Paul did fight a kid his age and he lost. If he beats Mike Tyson he’s gonna fight Clint Eastwood next. Clint… pic.twitter.com/DozvSK7gWl
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 21, 2024
Dana White promises to “stay out of Mike Tyson’s business” after attempting to help in past
Mike Tyson has various ways to make money that don’t involve getting punched in the head at 58 years old. With that said, Dana White believes ‘Iron’ continues to return to boxing because he’s been fighting his entire life. The UFC CEO had this to say during the previously mentioned podcast:
“To really sum this thing up. Mike was going to fight the Roy Jones fight, and I was all f*cking bummed out, didn’t want him to fight and all this sh*t. He looked f*cking great, no doubt about it. So, I said, listen, Mike, I’ll get you other sh*t to make money. I put him on shark week… I’m trying to help Mike and do all this sh*t. Mike’s been fighting since Mike was a f*cking kid and fighting is what Mike knows and fighting is what Mike does… Mike is a grown a*s man. He can do whatever the f*ck he wants, and I’m gonna stay out of Mike’s business.”
Jake Paul has established a controversial professional boxing record of 9-1, including six wins inside the distance. Following his lone loss against Tommy Fury, ‘The Problem Child’ has bounced back with a decision win against Nate Diaz and first-round knockouts against underperforming opponents Andre August and Ryan Bourland.
Watch White’s entire interview on Pound 4 Pound below:
