‘I don’t want him to kill Mike’ – WWE legend Hulk Hogan in dramatic Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson U-turn

Hulk Hogan has totally changed his opinion on the most controversial fight of 2024.

The WWE legend was originally excited to watch Jake Paul square off against Mike Tyson at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on November 15 – but now he’s gone off the idea.

Paul has faced criticism for fighting the boxing legend

Hogan recently got to watch Paul sparring ahead of his biggest fight yet.

‘The Problem Child’ will be 31 years younger than Tyson when they face off.

Naturally, he’s heavily favoured to take out the 58-year-old former undisputed heavyweight champion, who hasn’t had a proper fight since being stopped by Kevin McBride in 2005.

“Your brother is too strong,” Hogan said on Logan Paul’s podcast.

“Last night, as soon as I saw him set the guy up with the left and keep going over with the overhand right, I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ I mean, really, really scary.

“I love Mike to death. I don’t want him to kill Mike, Jesus.”

Genuine concern for Tyson was not Hogan’s first reaction to the matchup.

In June, the 71-year-old unironically branded Paul vs Tyson ‘Fight of the Century’ and suggested that his old friend could shock the world by beating the much younger man.

Hogan’s opinion didn’t budge when the fight was postponed because ‘Iron Mike’ suffered a concerning mid-air medical issue and was unable to make their original July 20 fight date.

“When he gets focused, he will seek and destroy,” he said in June.

Hogan looked genuinely concerned for Tyson after seeing his comeback opponent spar

He was originally excited about the fight

“I see that bad dog look in his eye now. It’s like when you don’t trust a bad dog, it might bite you at any time. That’s the look he’s got.

“I remember that look from 25 years ago, it’s kind of scary.”

“I’m excited about it. I’m kind of glad it’s rescheduled because I don’t want any excuses. I want both men at 100 per cent.

“And I’ve got a feeling this is gonna be the Fight of the Century, brothers. This is gonna be a good one.”

Hogan is one of the many people genuinely concerned for Tyson when he returns to the ring.

However, Paul insists his next opponent is fully capable of mixing it at his level and says anyone suggesting he’s not is disrespecting one of the greatest boxers of all time.

“I think it’s disrespectful to Mike, first and foremost,” Paul said when talkSPORT MMA asked him what he had to say to critics of his upcoming fight.

Paul continues to defend the matchup from critics

“And then I would say to them ‘Get in the ring with him’. If Mike wants to fight, then Mike wants to fight. If he wants to make it a pro fight then, ‘Okay!’

“I wanna fight Mike Tyson, that’s legendary. It’s an honour to be in the ring with him, and if he wants the fight to be a pro fight then, ‘Okay, let’s do it’.”

“You look at his training videos, look at him on the mitts, you look at him in person – he has a 30lb weight advantage and is giant strong.

“So, people can say what they want about it, but they are still going to watch.”