Dana White has admitted he was wrong when he advised Mike Tyson not to make a ring return.
The UFC boss even went so far as to have 'Iron Mike' booked for another show in 2020 when he planned to return in an exhibition against Roy Jones Jr. And he really wasn't interested in seeing 58-year-old Jake Paul in a fully sanctioned professional fight.
Paul and Tyson went the distance last night, with more than 65 million households watching live on streaming giant Netflix. Eventually the servers crashed and it became one of the most watched sporting events of all time.
Dana White admits Mike Tyson proved him wrong in the Jake Paul fight
UFC CEO Dana White and Mike Tyson are famously close friends and are in regular contact about their careers. And when the famous director heard about Paul vs. Tyson, he strongly advised him not to do it.
However, the legendary heavyweight champion gave White a pep talk about his abilities and told him he could easily handle whatever Paul threw at him. “Mike Tyson was right, and I was wrong,” White told the media after UFC 309 on Saturday night.
“Y'all know the whole story about Shark Week, if you don't I begged him not to do the Roy Jones fight 'y'all are too old, I love you, I don't want you to get any more punishment' . So I put him on shark week.
“He got good money, but he almost freaked out and was ready to kill everyone on the boat the last day because he had to jump in the boat with all those sharks in the middle of Florida.
Dana White on the Paul/Tyson event: For Netflix, this was great because you knew it would get a huge audience thanks to Mike Tyson, right? And to be fair to Jake, you're going to watch him hopefully get knocked out, right? That's what everyone wants… pic.twitter.com/y6xE5FRcjH
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 17, 2024
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“And he says, 'This fucking motherfucker says he cares about me, I've been fighting since I was 12 and he decides to throw me in the fucking ocean with a bunch of sharks! He was right about that too.
“So I said to him, 'Mike, you're actually 60 years old,' and he said, 'Do you really think this kid is going to do something to me? He's not good, he's not going to knock me out or do this.”
“And you saw him, he tripped walking off the thing, had trouble climbing stairs and had a knee brace on. Then Jake Paul couldn't hurt him anymore.
“He made a lot of money and I know people were mad about staying home, but you didn't pay for it. When Mike Tyson shows up, everyone makes money.
“Jake Paul ain't worried… I don't have to tell y'all, y'all know Mike Tyson is the A++++ side of that thing. He was right, Jake Paul couldn't do anything to him. He was right and I was wrong.”
Dana White tears into the broadcast of Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson
However, White wasn't a big fan of what he saw on Netflix, and particularly called out Hollywood star Rosie Perez for her involvement during the evening. He also noted that the event at least didn't cost fans anything, even though he agreed with Barstool Sports boss Dave Portnoy's assessment that it was a “scam.”
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix
“These guys will fight and then have a podcast for the next hour and a half until the main event starts,” White continued. 'Do you know what we do? We go boom, boom, boom and the fighting continues.
“All the talking is done, you don't need to see damn Rosie Perez breaking up fights, you know?”
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