Ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley says Jake Paul deserves credit for taking on Mike Tyson but warned his former opponent that he’s putting his life on the line against the boxing icon.
Tyron Woodley warned Jake Paul that he’s entering extremely dangerous territory with his fight against Mike Tyson.
The ex-UFC champion enjoyed a stellar career in MMA where he defended his welterweight title four times, making him one of the most successful champions in the history of the weight division. Woodley, 41, ended his UFC career on a four-fight skid as he called time on his MMA journey in 2021 with a plan to venture into boxing.
He began his voyage of the pugilistic sport that same year with a blockbuster bout against Jake Paul which he narrowly lost via a split-decision. He would accept a short-notice rematch with the YouTube star months after the first fight after Tommy Fury pulled out with an injury.
Woodley – who’d been knocked out just once in 27 MMA fights – was rendered unconsciousness by ‘The Problem Child’ who landed a huge right hand in the sixth round of their fight.
Almost three years on from their battle in Tampa, the UFC legend spoke exclusively to Daily Star Sport to commend the 27-year-old for taking on the challenge of fighting Mike Tyson but warned his former opponent about the type of individual he’ll be stepping across from on July 20th.
“I mean, nobody’s going to give Jake Paul any credit,” Woodley said. “He never gets applauded for anything. And a lot of people are like, oh, you’re such a sellout. Oh, he paid you, I’m just not a hater. Like, what does it benefit me to hate on Jake Paul, it’s not going to take back a loss.
“Anybody who walk into the ring with Mike Tyson, their life is on the line. Every time Mike Tyson stepped out, when I saw those punches, even the one that missed, the gust of wind itself was enough to make a motherf***er move back.”
Despite Tyson turning 58 years old before their summer bout, Woodley said the experience and attributes learned by the former heavyweight champion will count against Paul who’ll have to use his skill of mental warfare to gain any sort of advantage in the fight.
“He’s dealing with someone who has 60 fights, not even including how many amateur fights he had,” Woodley remarked. “He just hasn’t had the luxury of having the time to even program his body. I’m not saying it is impossible if he got a similar coaching and training to look at his body type, his attributes and formed the style based upon that, and he took the 10 years that it took Mike to do it.
“Then maybe. But right now he can’t develop that by July 20th. All he can lean on is his mental warfare. He can lean on his youth and he can lean on the fact that he got a little screw loose to even get in there with Mike.”
The 41-year-old paid tribute to Jake Paul for keeping true to his word about fighting anybody, unlike his rival KSI who Woodley has had beef with in the past.
“He’s young, he’s a little f***ing nutty. He’s the only influencer that actually will fight anybody. A lot of them say it but you see a lot of them picking fights and running away from fights that are threatening to their career and their consciousness, guys like KSI, they’ll say it but they won’t do it.”