Dana White reacts to Tyson vs. Paul fight: ‘Mike Tyson was right … Jake Paul couldn’t do sh*t to him’
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It turns out Mike Tyson proved Dana White wrong.
Ahead of Tyson’s return to the ring at 58 years old on Friday, the UFC CEO showed genuine concern that the former heavyweight boxing champion was potentially risking his health by fighting Jake Paul in an eight-round main event that was being broadcast on Netflix. While the fight wasn’t exactly a barnburner, Tyson didn’t absorb too much damage and he ultimately lost a decision without suffering a single knockdown along the way.
“Mike Tyson was right, and I was wrong,” White said during the UFC 309 post-fight press conference “I told him ‘Mike you’re basically 60 years old.’ He’s like ‘you honestly think this f*cking kid’s going to do anything to me? He’s not good. He’s not going to f*cking knock me out. He’s not going to do this.’
“You saw him, he tripped when he was walking down the [aisle], he had a hard time walking up the stairs. He had a knee brace on and Jake Paul couldn’t do anything to him. He made a ton of money and I know people are mad you stayed home on a Saturday night but you didn’t pay for it. When Mike Tyson shows up, everybody makes money. I don’t have to tell you guys. You guys know. Mike Tyson is the A++++ side of that thing. He was right. Jake Paul couldn’t do shit to him. He was right and I was wrong.”
Following the event, Paul claimed he didn’t go for the knockout on Tyson because he “didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
Obviously it doesn’t seem like White is buying that excuse but he’s definitely happy that Tyson left the ring unharmed without taking too much damage.
As far as complaints that the fight somehow didn’t end up as a thrilling, all-time classic, White could only scoff at anyone upset about what actually unfolded.
The matchup saw a 27-year-old social influencer turned boxing enthusiast take on a nearly 60-year-old former heavyweight champion. In other words, White promises that no one should be surprised at the outcome.
“If you didn’t think that’s the way the fight [was going to play out], I don’t know what people expected,” White said. “Mike’s almost 60 years old. He’s Mike Tyson but he’s 60 years old. He knew that Jake Paul couldn’t do anything to him so you knew what you were going to get when you saw that fight. But you can’t get mad.
“It was f*cking free. We’ve all got Netflix anyways. You got to watch the girls fight and the girls fight [between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor] was good.”
The fight produced massive viewership numbers with Netflix revealing on Saturday that 60 million households tuned in to watch Paul vs. Tyson with 50 million witnessing the Serrano vs. Taylor fight.
The main event may still go down as one of the most talked about fights of the year even if Paul vs. Tyson wasn’t all that memorable.
But White says deep down inside, everybody knew exactly what that fight would look like and that’s essentially how it all went down on Friday night.
“I know a lot of people were pissed, it was a bit of a shit show but what did you expect?” White said.
“Seriously. When you stayed home, and you turned on Netflix that night, were you like ‘holy f*ck, I’m about to see the greatest sporting event of all-time.’ No you f*cking did not. You got exactly what you thought you were going to get.”
