Mike Tyson Says He'd Destroy Conor McGregor if the Two Ever Fought

Mike Tyson appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon this week to hype up his upcoming return fight against Roy Jones Jr. in September. During the interview the subject of former UFC champion Conor McGregor came up, and Tyson boasted that if he ever had a boxing match with McGregor he would "kick his a—." Fallon was having Tyson go through a list of hypothetical opponents, having him go up against fictional characters like Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago. Then the subject of McGregor came up.

"That dude is nuts," Fallon said.

"Yeah, but I'm going to kick his a— anyway," Tyson replied with a laugh.

McGregor only ever boxed once, facing Floyd Mayweather in a big-money fight in 2017. Mayweather won via TKO in the 10th round.

After months of speculation, Tyson announced that he would be fighting again via a press release last week.

"Legendary former Undisputed Heavyweight World Champion, and entrepreneur, Mike Tyson, is set to make his highly anticipated return to the ring in a face-off against four-division World Champion, Roy Jones Jr. The exhibition will take place on September 12, 2020 at 9:00pm ET on pay-per-view as well as on multi-media platform, Triller, which has also obtained exclusive streaming rights to the soon-to-be-released, ten-part docuseries featuring behind-the-scenes, pre-fight footage, releasing two episodes per week leading up to the match," the release read. "The fight, titled "FRONTLINE BATTLE," is the first event of a series produced under Mike Tyson's Legends Only League, a sports venture owned by Tyson and Eros Innovations which has partnered with Triller on all future boxing events."

"A three-hour live event airing globally on PPV and Triller, the Tyson vs. Jones fight is set for eight rounds and will be one of multiple exhilarating fights taking place during the broadcast," the release continued. "This program will also include significant undercard matches as well as iconic musical performances to be announced in the coming weeks. Tyson, 54, kicked off his illustrious career at 20 years old when he became the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title, a record he still holds to this day. Throughout his career, Tyson held the title of Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion from 1987 to 1990 and was also the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles. Roy Jones Jr., 51, who started his storied professional boxing career in 1989 has won numerous championships in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight divisions. In 2003 Jones won the WBA heavyweight title, becoming the first former middleweight champion to win a Heavyweight title in 106 years and has simultaneously held a record seven belts including WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, NABF, WBF, and IBA light heavyweight championships."

Tyson has not stepped inside the ring for an official fight since his loss to Kevin McBride on June 11, 2005.