Despite all the marketing drive and the might of Netflix behind it, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul failed to impress audiences, unsurprisingly in hindsight. Critics of the bout were calling this very outcome from the moment this fight was announced. The ‘Mike Tyson’ of old didn’t show up, and instead Jake Paul beat on an ageing fighter who struggled to catch his breath after the first two rounds. One thing that we all can be grateful for is the fact that Jake Paul didn’t knock the veteran out, despite catching him with big shots. At the end, the hopes of a dreams of longtime Tyson fans were crushed by the end of eight rounds. While UFC personalities Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub were on the edge of their seats watching the fights, the UFC commentator wasn’t surprised at the outcome.

Joe Rogan who had Mike Tyson on his podcast on more than one occasion, shared his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) at witnessing the boxing legend lose via unanimous decision – “Magic isn’t real”. The post is perhaps directed at people, Rogan included, who were hoping for some miracle to play out in the fight, where Tyson would replicate his killer instinct from his days as a champion, and knock ‘The Problem Child’ out, or at the very least, pull off a decision victory.

The fight commentator and podcaster posted the message in reply to an earlier X post he made prior to the much anticipated bout commencing – “I’m getting ready to watch this Tyson vs Jake Paul fight like I’m watching someone cast a spell that I hope actually works. And I don’t really believe in magic. But I want to believe”. It seems like even Joe Rogan is victim to the the collective hope that people had in Tyson’s skills. In this case, hope was truly a beggar.

His associate and long time friend, Brendan Schaub, wasn’t so meek in his thoughts about the fight. The former UFC heavyweight contender-turned-comedian took to Instagram to post a lengthy angry message – “Well… what did you think was going to happen? No one should be surprised. Yet here we are. It’s a 58-year-old man fighting a much younger fighter. Despite their talent level, this is just how life works. Yet, the majority of the world fell for the marketing. Hats off to Netflix. When are people going to wake the f*ck up? This was never an actual competitive fight. Ever. Go back and find those “Fight experts” or celebrities in the space that told you Mike Tyson had a chance. It’s one of two things they’re either working in some capacity with the promotion or they have absolutely zero clue about fighting.”

The real winner of the bout were Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, who took home fat pay checks while the rest of the 70,000+ attendance, and 280 million viewers around the world were left bewildered at what they just watched. The only redeeming factor about the fight was the mutual respect both boxers had for each other after the bout. Paul called Tyson ‘the GOAT’ while the latter called the former a ‘good fighter’. At the end of the day, it wasn’t just Joe Rogan or Brendan Schaub who got a reality check from the bout.

NFL legends joins Joe Rogan in reaction to Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

NFL legend Brett Favre was close spectator of the spectacle that was Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. The ex-Packers quarterback isn’t too far away from Mike Tyson in terms of his age at 55, but he was still humbled at seeing the 58-year old boxing legend take shots from his 27-year old in-ring counterpart. Taking to X, the NFL legend said, “Can’t imagine taking hits by NFL linebackers at 58-years-old. My body couldn’t take the punishment now.”

Favre went on to write that “time is undefeated” indicating that no one can beat Father Time, no matter how dominant they were as prime athletes. After Jake Paul was declared the winner in the fight, Favre congratulated both the fighters, and said that he was “glad that Tyson didn’t get hurt”, echoing the sentiment of the fight community at large.

Former NFL legend corner-backer, Dominique Foxworth he had a different take on this where he questioned the legitimacy of the fight – “This is not legitimate. But it’s real in the sense they’re going to be hitting each other. And that’s all it takes for me to watch it!”. His final statement is something that was true for many detractors of the fight, who couldn’t help but tune in to watch Mike Tyson compete again.

Whether it was staged or real is a matter for another day. For now, Jake Paul won all rounds of the bout with 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73 marked on the judges scorecards. What do you think of the fight between Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul? Were you surprised at the outcome, or did you see it coming from a mile away? Let us know in the comments below.