"He's turned down bigger paydays" - UFC legend questions why Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are fighting
A UFC legend recently weighed in on the upcoming boxing bout between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson and questioned why it was taking place.
The bout announcement came as a shock to the combat sports community as many believed that it's not a fair fight, especially considering the 30-year age difference between the two fighters.
Chael Sonnen is the latest to share his thoughts on the bout as he uploaded a video to his YouTube channel and attempted to gain a better understanding as to why the viewers should be invested.
The former UFC middleweight title challenger noted that it's importance to clarify the important of the fight and what's at stake. He mentioned that 'Iron' has been offered other fights in the past, but decided to risk his reputation in boxing to fight 'The Problem Child'. He said:
"When they're saying it's not about the money, they know they need to back that up with something...He's [Mike Tyson] turned down bigger paydays. I personally don't know why he accepted the fight with Paul. But there's a reason and I would love to know what it is...Not to mention he doesn't have a ton of time and the embarrassment that a great like Mike Tyson would suffer if he was to lose to a guy with limited experience." [6:17 - 6:56]
It will be interesting to see whether Tyson provides a reason as to why he accepted the fight against Paul.
Check out the full video below:
Chael Sonnen speculates reason why Jake Paul pursued a bout against Mike Tyson
Chael Sonnen recently speculated on the reasoning behind Jake Paul pursuing a bout against Mike Tyson and noted that he could be using it to get the attention of Canelo Alvarez.
In the aforementioned video, Sonnen mentioned that he believes that 'The Problem Child' could become a villain in the sport should he earn a dominant win over a legend like Tyson. He said:
"If Jake Paul can do a good enough job of smearing Mike's face in it. Now to do that, he's going to have to be extremely hated...If Jake made this a standpoint of, 'I own boxing. I just showed boxing. I just stuck it to boxing', there would be the door for Canelo [Alvarez] to walk in and say, 'No, you didn't. I am now going to come out and I am going to save boxing'. [7:51 - 8:30]
Check out the below video, where Paul called out Alvarez last month: