'In a street fight, I'd win': UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell says he'd KO 'Iron' Mike Tyson on the streets

Former UFC champion Chuck Liddell says that Mike Tyson would have little chance against him in a street fight if the two superstars of their respective sports ever tangled on the streets.

Liddell's UFC run was littered with spectacular knockouts against the likes of Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture and the iron-fisted, mohawked slugger predicts that Tyson would suffer a similar fate if the two strikers ever squared up to each other with tempers frayed.

'The Iceman', who turns 50 next month, last fought a year ago when he was TKO'd in the first round in his third meeting with old rival Ortiz after he came out of retirement to face his arch-rival more than eight years after his last fight but despite having not won a professional bout since a decision win against Wanderlei Silva in December 2007, Liddell forecasts a quick night in any hypothetical match-up with Tyson.

"In a street fight, I'd win," Tyson predicted to Ed Mylett on his popular YouTube channel.

"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."

Tyson, now 53, last fought in 2005 when he was beaten by Irish heavyweight Kevin McBride but has remained in the public eye by launching a number of businesses as well as hosting the popular podcast Hotboxin'.

The former world heavyweight champion is a noted mixed martial arts enthusiast and is frequently spotted in the company of UFC president Dana White at fight cards in Las Vegas.

His enthusiasm for mixed martial arts and its competitors was again apparent recently when heavyweight fighter Francis Ngannou claimed that Tyson had offered to train him should he ever move into professional boxing.

"My grandpa when I was a kid, 19 years old, [would say]: 'hey, you know that Mike Tyson guy, I know you can beat him,' Liddell elaborated further.

"To me, it’s just funny. Nowadays it would be nice to see that’s a serious question."