Its really depends on how fast Mike Tyson could get his shots in. Because 2-3 good shots and its over.
The same as all the other boxers who try MMA, its goes to ground and they submitt. Unless they are facing a complete bum of an MMA fighter and they catch them clean.
A prime Mike Tyson was 25yrs ago, so back then there was no one in mma that could match him or keep him off. It's all relative i guess
It's actually shocking how bad top strikers - and by that I mean kickboxers as well as boxers - look when they go up against an MMA grappler that knows his business. Guys that look unbeatable in the ring suddenly look like dumbos as they get toppled like dead wood and spaz out trying to prevent the choke or to try to get back to their feet. It's absolutely no contest imho. Take a top boxer out of the ring and put him in the cage and I'd say he's lucky to win even 25% of his matches against mediocre MMA opposition. However, take that same boxer and give him a year's training in stuffing the takedown, fighting in the clinch and defending basic throws, and I believe that you have a force to be reckoned with. There was actually a study done showing that wrestling > boxing when it comes to fighting. Sad but true.
I agree with almost everything you wrote except I doubt a year would be enough time to train a boxer proficiently in takedown defense. And once you begin focusing on takedown defense, your offense is effected. A funny example came to mind, Frans Botha against a much smaller Asian mma fighter. Botha was submitted within a minute from an ankle hold.
Fair enough, I've never trained MMA myself so I'll take your word for it. I agree that a boxer's offense would be affected because of the change in stance, just for starters. Then we also have fights like Fedor / Cro Cop where the mere threat of the takedown against Cro Cop neutered his otherwise killer offense. I'm willing to bet the house that if that had been a K1 match he would have schooled Fedor instead of getting his ass kicked. And Crocop is not a noob on the ground, either.
MMA is a lottery, someone like Mike Tyson (with minimal MMA training) could beat anyone in MMA on his day but could also lose to any decent wrestler. Tyson wouldn't be so easy to take down once they'd teach him the basics though. He was a short HW, low center of gravity, speed, short reach, great hands at close range and great uppercuts. Takedown defense in MMA isn't just pure wrestling technique, it's combined wrestling, footwork and movement as well as timing. Remember how hard it was to take Igor Vovchanchyn down who was also a short HW and a striker. Or Mark Hunt for the matter. If his opponent would be 6 foot 2 or taller it's hard for him to just go for the double/single leg and grab those massive heavy muscular legs of a very heavy 5 foot 10 man like Tyson who also happens to be explosive, accurate and fast and might just blast your head off with an uppercut if he sees you coming. Especially because Tyson had such short reach and generated optimal power at close range. Again, we're assuming that Tyson has at least minimal say two years of MMA training so he knows at least some basic stuff. Another thing is that it's naturally hard to submit a guy with big muscular short limbs and with huge traps. I think the best grappling tactic would be to just stall and try to wear him out. I think Mike would pick up grappling defense quickly because he has good natural predispositions for that. And he doesn't need to focus a lot on kicks either with his physique, with his offensive footwork and speed he could force the boxing range all the time anyway, I think muay thai clinch and knees are the one thing he'd need to worry about though. Maybe someone like Overeem could bomb him with knees but Tyson would only need to graze that glass chin with a stiff jab to put him out. Tyson would just need to work on very specific skills, he wouldn't need to become some well rounded MMA fighter, that would be a waste of time.
Also, there's this new guy Francis Ngannou, started training MMA with 27 years, no athletic background whatsoever, he was actually homeless in France, originally he's from Cameroon. Fast forward 3 years and he's one of the most scary fighters at HW already and like a fight or two away from UFC title shot because he's simply a genetic freak and a great athlete. Mike Tyson could start from nothing and be a top UFC fighter in 3 years, never mind with elite boxing background that he had.
Tyson had a good striking style for MMA, however he also liked knowing he could over power anyone and always knew he was the stronger guy in boxing and in the rule sets. In the cage he would have guys physically stronger and guys trying to kick him to keep distance...FEW would take chances standing so we dont know how he would react with all the other variables of rules set in the cage. I dont believe for a second prime Tyson would look better in MMA , but i do feel the Tyson of the late 90's would. If he just went into UFC in 93/95 he loses without any grappling training. Royce Gracie/Ken shamrock and Dan Severn all defeat him as well as a few in between who doesn't strike with him and who were competant trained MMa fighters.Tyson also probably has some k.o wins if he fights enough. Tyson would need to be trained in MMA like everyone else if hes going to win against legit fighters,past and present.Tyson as Tyson the boxer and just the boxer doesnt have a successful career there. todays fighters are more prepared and sharper.What would be on his side is the rule changes of stand ups...in the early UFC when refs couldnt break up the fight he would be dead in the water because he would be stuck on the ground. Only Tyson truly knows this answer ,you have to take into account his boxing striking ,will not be the same as his MMA striking ,obviously b/c he has to focus on more than one art..can he succeed? Anyone with his athletic ability and power can but only as a MMa fighter not strictly boxer if we are talking about career success and not a random fight. Its who can put EVERYTHING together that wins moreso than the better skilled fighter who just does one thing better in any combat sport,in MMA it just matters more bc there are so much more set ups taking place and ways to win. "Well, in '93, I was in prison, so there wouldn’t have been a fight, but there is no way I would have won,” said Tyson. “I had no idea what was going on with that type of fighting and would’ve been taken by surprise. I would have had to train in that particular art of fighting before that happened. That’s a particular art. You’re not going to go in there with just your hand and not have a great ground game. You also need a great wrestling game to be successful, and you won’t be exciting, as well. You have to have both games. You have to know how to wrestle and box. That’s just the truth." M. Tyson
Some great posts on this thread! A note on Igor, though, he did have a Sambo background iirc so he was not as helpless as you may think on the ground. He later developed submission skills and actually had a few wins like this.
Gracie was probably the smallest MMA fighter in the 90s and he'd have shot low at Tyson so the uppercut wouldn't be an issue. Even if Tyson stuffs the takedown at that point being close to the mat Gracie wouldn't just back off and reset he'd clinch him and as Tyson tries punching he'd be certain to leave himself open for an arm trap and takedown. Small joint manipulation was allowed back then as well so Tyson's muscular structure wouldn't protect him that much and infact with a triangle choke it works against him. But someone like Frye or Belfort who, on paper, were expert grapplers relied on a striking game far too much and someone like that is open to be defeated. I just don't see Tyson having an real success at all. A superfight against Gracie or Shamrock ends horrifically for him. A championship fight in UFC sees him have to face Coleman who would dominate him in one sided fashion. If he is around for the start of Pride he has a decent shot against Igor if Vov decides he's proud enough to keep it stand up. Kerr would dominate him as well. It's not just the takedown defence either, the side on stance closes the angle for punches but widens it for leg kicks, Tyson has a huge target on his thighs and someone like Rutten would make mincemeat of his legs. No punch is gonna beat a kick from range and if he stands square on the defend the leg kicks he's open for a double leg takedown. If he joined a wrestling alliance say Lions Den, or The Alliance or Coleman's it would take him such a long time to perfect the art of grappling. Look how Maurice Smith struggled despite his kick boxing experience. Tyson has one chance pretty much, come in swinging and force the other man to back pedal in panic and hope he lands. You need the wrestling or BJJ background to be successful in MMA.
