Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on DAZN.com.
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Jon Jones is currently in a feud with the UFC over fighter pay and has gone as far as to suggest that he’ll relinquish his UFC light heavyweight title if the MMA promotional company doesn’t pay him what he feels he deserves.
The UFC is seemingly unwilling to pay Jones for a heavyweight showdown with Francis Ngannou but perhaps there’s another heavyweight in combat sports who could face arguably the best mixed martial artist of all time.
And that person is Mike Tyson.
The 53-year-old former heavyweight champion has been teasing a return to boxing with training videos over the past few months. Tyson took to Instagram Live to explain that if Jones wants real money, he’ll have to step into the ring with him.
“A UFC [fighter] will never be richer than a first class [boxer],” Tyson said. “To make a hundred million dollars, Conor [McGregor] had to fight Floyd [Mayweather]! Even if he fights Jon Jones, he’s not going to get that. Jon Jones gotta fight me to make some super money.”
After hearing Tyson, Jones responded with, “I’m listening.”
Jones then followed that with an Instagram post laying down the terms of a potential fight.
“I’ll box you in the ring if you promise to give me a real fight in the octagon afterwards,” Jones said. “And because I respect you so much, I promise I won’t break anything on you.”
While this all sounds good in theory, the likelihood of a Jon Jones and Mike Tyson fight is slim to none. But that’s also what was said about Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather and it ended up being one of the richest fights on combat sports history. You can never say never if the money is right.