Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Mike Tyson was the biggest combat sport’s star in the world.
In 1993, a new combat sport emerged when the UFC put on their first event. Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Royce Gracie took the world by storm when he submitted three men in one night to win the first UFC tournament.
In 2013, Tyson spoke on UFC Tonight and shared his thoughts on how he would fare against Gracie.
“Well, in ’93, I was in prison, so there wouldn’t have been a fight, but there is no way I would have won. 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.”
Tyson wasn’t afraid to admit that he probably would have lost to Gracie. However, Tyson also admitted he would have been “awesome” to have tried MMA.
“My ego would have told me I’m the best fighter in the world with all the particular fighting aspects, and I would have tried it,” Tyson said.
