Iron Mike Was Almost Signed…Almost

The rumors have circulated for years. Mike Tyson is coming to MMA! Unfortunately these rumors were never turned into reality. Iron Mike is still a huge name in the fight world, which is why most organizations would be more than willing to sign him to a deal. But, like everything else that surrounds the former knock-out artist’s name, things got complicated.

PRIDE first started talking with Tyson in 2006, just in time for MMA’s massive popularity explosion and the organizations transition into the US. PRIDE was planning the perfect marketing strategies and felt that they had just landed the perfect name to make the transition across seas smoother than ever imagined. While they continued talks with Iron Mike the organization felt that they had hooked Tyson with their proposal of a “world tour”, in which he would take on such names as Mirko Cro Cop and Fedor Emelianenko. It’s fair to say that most MMA fans and critics are highly skeptical about bringing pure boxers into the MMA world, but PRIDE had come up the bright idea to market the fights as boxing matches against their MMA stars. This would have surely hooked the boxing market that the UFC had previously failed to reach.

During their talks Tyson had even showed up to a PRIDE press conference in Las Vegas, giving off the impression that he was now a PRIDE fighter. And then, all of a sudden, Tyson was gone. While PRIDE was working on ways to market the boxing legend and make the most of the opportunity they thought had landed in their laps, they soon found out that working out the deal and staying in touch with Tyson were battles within themselves. There came a point during the negotiations that Tyson could not be found…anywhere. The deal never left the ground due to money issues, contractual obligations, and the pure fact that Tyson was not cooperating in a manner that made the organization fell that he was serious about signing.

After the deal was swept under the PRIDE rug, several other organizations tried to contact Tyson in hopes of signing him. Obviously, none were successful. But, let us reflect on this notion for a short moment. If Tyson had actually followed through with his PRIDE negotiations how exciting would it have been to see him put on the 4 oz. gloves and throw blows with the likes of fighters such as Fedor? It’s tough to say whether Tyson would have been successful or not, but we can be sure that if the deal would have happened tickets would have sold like hot-cakes and anyone that calls themselves a MMA fan would have tuned in to watch. But as we come back to reality we see that Tyson will remain only a fan of MMA, not a fighter of the sport. Unfortunately, we may never see Iron Mike throw another competitive punch. But it’s still nice to see him around the fight world, such as his cameo appearance on the TUF show this past fall. I mean, it would be pretty interesting to see Tyson coaching boxing to future MMA stars, right? Let us dare to dream.

- By Jake Chastain via BJPENN.COM

wow what an interesting read!

It would have been insane if this went down

Yeah I saw this and had to bring it over here

+ imaginary 1

not surprised I remember in 1996 when UFC tried to get Tyson to fight Shamrock to help spark interest in the promotion, it never came about either but woulda been the shit

I would've paid 50 bucks to see him just throw one punch at somebody's head with a 4oz glove on

Quote :

t’s tough to say whether Tyson would have been successful or not

lolwut

bobbitt15 wrote:

I would've paid 50 bucks to see him just throw one punch at somebody's head with a 4oz glove on

Hell yeah. Im pretty sure he would have been good. Not great but good and a huge draw.

If Mike Tyson had trained in MMA when he was 13 years old and kept at it like he did in boxing, he could've been one of the baddest MMA guys ever. He would've been a force as a wrestler and when he puts his hands on your chin you get KTFO.

Mike Tyson was a guy who could've excelled in any kind of combat sport.

Oh and he wil KYTFO!

Tyson gets a few Yuji Nagata's and Sean O' Haire's right off the bat and then fights Fedor, CroCop, Big Nog consecutively...to losses.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Tyson gets a few Yuji Nagata's and Sean O' Haire's right off the bat and then fights Fedor, CroCop, Big Nog consecutively...to losses.

If Tyson was trained as an MMA fighter instead of a boxer he could've been a legit GOAT in MMA. The guy had every physical tool as a fighter in his DNA. Any style of fighting he could've been a top guy.