Daniel Cormier: Mike Tyson knocking out Jake Paul would be an 'all-time backfire'

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier isn’t sure if Jake Paul’s career will recover if he loses to Mike Tyson.

Paul (10-1) meets the 58-year-old boxing legend Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. “The Problem Child” is coming off a sixth-round stoppage win of Mike Perry in their cruiserweight fight in July. Cormier sees Paul’s youthfulness being a big issue for Tyson, despite seeing positives out of Tyson’s training.

“I understand that, and I get what he’s saying, and I do agree when he’s hitting pads with Rafael Cordeiro, it looks like there’s still something left in there,” Cormier said on his “Funky and the Champ” show with Ben Askren. “But then I watch Jake Paul fight Mike Perry. I watch Jake Paul get pressed to where he starts to feel uncomfortable, and it looked like Mike Perry had a chance. But then Jake has a reserve tank to go to and get and draw from because he’s 28 years old.

“Then he comes back and ultimately finishes Mike Perry. Early in the fight, Mike Perry is getting beat on, dropped, he looks out-maned, he looks outmatched. …That is my concern, because what if this looks like 58-year-old man fighting a 28-year-old man, where Mike can’t draw from that reserve tank to stay and compete with this young kid? I think it’s a lose-lose for Jake Paul, because if you beat up Mike Tyson, everybody loves Mike Tyson.”

But if Tyson can pull off the upset, Cormier believes Paul’s future would be in big trouble.

“What if Mike knocks him out, though? Then it’s over,” Cormier said. “Everything’s done. It would be an all-time backfire. Nothing’s ever been done like that in the history of the sport if he gets knocked out.”