Statistically, a tiger is most likely to win in a fight against a lion! Lions and tigers have been pitted against each other in the imaginations of hunters, poets, artists, and naturalists. They’ve competed in the wild where their ranges have overlapped. 

Up until the 19th century, lions and tigers coexisted in central India. In ancient Rome their circuses would have exotic animals battle it out with each other. The fight between the lion and tiger was actually pretty common and more often than not the tiger won. A mosaic in the House of Faun in Pompeii shows a fight between a lion and a tiger.

 At the end of the 19th century, the Gaekwad of Baroda arranged a fight between a lion and tiger in front of thousands of people. The Gaekwad favored the lion, and ended up having to shell out 37,000 rupees, because the lion was mauled by the tiger. Tigers are up to 300 pounds heavier than a lion, which gives them the upper hand. Tigers are also solo hunters while lions are social beings. 

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