MIKE TYSON could have been a champion in MMA ‘no question’ – as the boxing legend prepares to judge in the PFL’s ‘Challenger Series’.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time aged 20 when in 1986 he brutally knocked out Trevor Berbick.
Tyson, 55, is one of the most celebrated boxers of all time but become a fan of MMA, striking a friendship with UFC boss Dana White and Professional Fighters League founder Donn Davis.
And Davis said if MMA was as prominent during Iron Mike’s heyday, then no doubt he would have ruled in the cage as well as the ring.
He told SunSport: “Mike would have been a champion at everything.
“It’s just how they said Lebron James could have played in the NFL, no question Mike could have been a champion in MMA.”
The PFL is MMA’s only league format, consisting of regular season and playoffs.
Fighters in eight weight classes enter the two-fight regular season where they compete to advance to the play-offs.
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That consists of a two-round quarter-final and three-round semi-final in one night, where the winner advances to the championship finale.
Up for grabs is a winner-takes-all $1million cash prize, which Tyson in 2019 awarded to women’s two-time champ Kayla Harrison, 31.
The Hall of Fame heavyweight started as a friend of Davis before becoming part of the PFL family.
Davis said: “I’ve been with Mike dozens of times of the years and it just started by me reaching out to Mike.
“As a young boy I watched him fight and I followed his life as well as his career. And to me, most of my respect comes from how he’s handled his life.
“And how he has become a person who accepts everything, stays positive about everything, learns from everything and most of all has become a great counsellor for combat sports athletes.
“How to be a champion, what to do and what not to do, how to accept your own destiny.
“He really believed what I talked about in terms of the power being in the fighters hands. And Mike has just been a great advisor and a great friend.”
This year, PFL has introduced a ‘Challenger Series’ which stretches over eight weeks and eight divisions, starting from February 18 and finishing on April 8.
There will be four fights a night but only one of the winners will be awarded the PFL seasonal contract, giving them the chance to fight for the $1m contract.
That is ultimately decided by a four-man guest panel, which includes Tyson himself.
Davis said: “There will be a panel of judges, not just one guy waving his wand and deciding.
“We’ll have MMA experts, including Vitor Belfort or Tyron Woodley, we will have celebrity judges, who are Hall of Fame-type boxers, like Mike Tyson.
“We will also have champion athletes, like Ray Lewis and we’re also going to have interesting celebrities who love the sport, Keenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live, for example.
“But most importantly, the fans will have a seat, the fourth vote is the fans.
“So once the fights are decided, each night will have four fights and which of those four winners gets the contract will be decided by those panel of four judges, which includes the fans and celebrity judges.”
