Mike Tyson’s ‘scary’ training footage convinces UFC legend Randy Couture that Jake Paul is in trouble

MMA legend Randy Couture has publicly backed Mike Tyson ahead of his fight with Jake Paul.

The former two-weight UFC champion knows all about crossover fights after welcoming boxing world champion James Toney to MMA in 2008.

Almost two decades later, he’s retired from fighting and combining an acting career with a broadcast role at PFL, who have recently launched a new MENA [Middle East and North Africa] season.

Couture may be a busy man, but he’s still a fight fan and he’ll be tuning in to watch Paul take on one of the best heavyweights of all time at AT&T Stadium on July 20.

Tyson is being written off by some due to the fact he is 30 years older and hasn’t had a proper fight since getting stopped by Kevin McBride in June 2005.

However, ‘The Natural’ thinks Paul could be in for a tough night at the office.

“Jake Paul has certainly got his hands full with Mike Tyson,” Couture told talkSPORT’s MMA YouTube channel.

“Even at [57], Mike is as explosive as he ever was, and there’s a whole lot of other things that are gone from Mike’s life, so he’s firing on all cylinders now.

“I think he’s gonna be very tough to deal with for Jake.”

Tyson has documented his fight camp on social media and his training footage has faced mixed reviews, but Couture thinks the ferocious KO artist has shown he’s still got a lot left in the tank.

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He added: “It’s going to be interesting to see how that fight unfolds.

“I mean, watching the training footage of Mike Tyson, you have flashbacks of him in his prime and it’s pretty scary, pretty remarkable.”

Couture is 60-years old and says he would seriously consider taking on a much younger man for the right money, but he thinks ‘Iron Mike’ has different reasons for agreeing to box Paul.

“I think there’s a little more at stake here for Mike,” he said.

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“Mike sees these crossover fights, what’s going on, how that’s affecting boxing and people’s perception of boxing.

“If you take him at his word, he wants to straighten some of that rhetoric out and say, ‘Hey, this isn’t as easy as Jake Paul is making it look.’

“He’s fighting for boxing in many ways.”

Only time will tell if Tyson will be able to roll back the years and prove just how hard boxing is by becoming the first man to KO Paul.

Whatever happens, you can be sure Couture will be watching their fight.