Legendary heavyweight boxer ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson believes Jon Jones is the undisputed GOAT of mixed martial arts.
Tyson has been working with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou as the Cameroonian prepares for his first professional boxing match against Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this October. But first, the pair sat down to share their thoughts on some of the greatest athletes and entertainers of all time in a video courtesy of Complex on YouTube.
During their conversation, Tyson was asked by Ngannou who he believes to be the undisputed GOAT of MMA.
“There’s so many of them I like,” Tyson admitted. “Jon Jones. Khabib. There’s a lot of great ones coming up. New guys. I have to go with Jon Jones because of all the adversity and all he went through and he still managed to become champ.”
Francis Ngannou agreed with Tyson’s statement, noting that as a big reason why he still hopes to one day share the cage with Jon Jones.
Before Ngannou parted ways with the UFC earlier this year, he was long-linked to a heavyweight title clash with Jon Jones. Sadly, the bout never came to fruition, leading Ngannou to sign with the Professional Fighters League. ‘The Predator’ is expected to make his Smart Cage debut next year, once he cashes in on a titanic-sized non-title fight with reigning WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Mike Tyson training Francis Ngannou for his fight with Tyson Fury pic.twitter.com/1kv4cA5T3S
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Mike Tyson Calls His Loss to Buster Douglas the Best Fight of His Career
Making his professional boxing debut in 1985, Mike Tyson immediately earned recognition for his incredible knockout power. He went on to KO his first 19 opponents, 12 of them in the very first round. Tyson reigned as the undisputed heavyweight world champion for nearly three years, but it all came crashing down on February 11, 1990, when he stepped in the ring with James ‘Buster’ Douglas.
As a 42-1 underdog, Douglas shocked the world by scoring a TKO over Tyson, handing ‘Kid Dynamite’ his first career loss in front of millions of fans watching around the world.
It was an undeniably humiliating moment for Tyson, but looking back, he believes that the loss made him a better fighter in the end.
“It’s weird. It has to be my loss to Buster Douglas,” Tyson replied when asked what he considers to be his greatest fight. “I say that because that fight propelled me into being a better fighter. So I always look at that fight as my best. Absolutely. Getting humiliated in front of millions and millions of people and overcoming that, that’s a winner.”
Tyson bounced back to win eight straight fights, reclaiming the WBC and WBA heavyweight titles in the process.
He officially hung up his gloves in 2005 with a record of 50-6 and 44 wins by way of knockout.
