Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier has backed himself to beat one of boxing's all-time greats, Mike Tyson, in a street fight.
The 43-year-old, a former two-weight UFC world champion and two-time Olympian, was a hugely successful wrestler before stepping into the octagon.
He held a 117-6 collegiate record that included three-time All-American honors and was named the U.S. squad’s Olympic team captain in 2008.
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Cormier certainly has an impressive wrestling background and, on the latest episode of ESPN MMA's DC & RC show with Ryan Clark, the sociology graduate those skills would give him the edge against Mike Tyson.
After a fan argued on social media that Cormier would "destroy" Tyson in a street fight, the former UFC fighter backed his chances.
"I'm tapping out on answering," co-host Clark laughed. "I understand that street fights involve a lot of things and that DC is a lot meaner than he looks.
"I'm also more scared of current Tyson than I am of Daniel Cormier, so I'm not going to give an answer that may be factually untrue, and I'm also not going to give an answer that may get me beat up in real life so I abstain from making an answer."
Cormier hit back, saying; "Ryan, I tap in because in a street fight, I'm wrestling everybody, I'm wrestling everybody to the ground and in a street fight you grab bottles, you can use everything.
"But RC, more than the fight, because I love Mike, he's my boy and I would never raise a finger to harm Mike Tyson.
"The only reason I say that is I'm a little bit jolly. But look at a picture of me on the scale with my chain [from his fighting days], I know you saw my bling out there, I don't even wear that any more."
Cormier isn't the only former UFC fighter to back himself in a hypothetical street fight against 'The Baddest Man On The Planet'.
Chuck Liddell believes he would beat Tyson in a street fight because the former heavyweight champion only has a puncher's chance.
"In a street fight, I'd win," Liddell said. "I mean, he's got a puncher's chance. He's got a chance to catch me coming in. But other than that, it's over."
In an interview with GQ, Tyson said he could never have become a UFC fighter.
"I don't know what I would do in the UFC, because I watched the UFC a couple of times, and I watched these guys step on people's feet," he explained.
"And I have the worst feet in the world, and if somebody stepped on my feet, I would totally tap out and just give up. It would be a no-brainer."
Topics: Mike Tyson, Daniel Cormier, Boxing, UFC
Jack Kenmare