Paul doesn’t want none of the smoke that former UFC fighter and WWE superstar Matt Riddle would bring with him to an MMA match.
Jake Paul is still looking for the right opponent for his PFL debut, and not just anyone will do.
Paul is set to box Andre August on Friday night (Dec. 15, 2023) in Orlando, Florida. It’s not a high star power fight, but August is a legitimate 10-1-1 boxer and Paul is still chasing a win over one of those. All of his wins in the ring have come against a motley assortment of YouTubers, NBA players, and aged MMA fighters. He’s hoping a win over August will lessen criticism that he carefully hand-picks all his opponents.
Meanwhile, in the MMA world, we’re still waiting on “The Problem Child” to follow through on a promised MMA run with the PFL that was announced at the start of 2023. That will reportedly go down sometime in 2024, but the PFL and Paul are having a hard time finding the right name to fight him. Nate Diaz is still the big hope, and PFL has dangled $15 million dollars in front of Nate to take it. Thus far, the Stockton fighter hasn’t seemed interested.
Jake Paul crawled into his final faceoff with Andre August #PaulAugust pic.twitter.com/9X3AHYTF1s
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 15, 2023
According to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, there is another option that Paul turned down: former UFC fighter and WWE superstar Matt Riddle.
“Matt Riddle and his reps spoke directly to Jake Paul of late regarding doing a match,” Meltzer reported. “Paul expressed no interest in facing Riddle under MMA rules, where Riddle would have the experience edge even though he hasn’t been active or trained for fighting for years. Riddle was willing to do a boxing match and at this point, it’s up to Paul’s side, which obviously it always would be since he’s the A-side.”
This shouldn’t be too surprising. Riddle is a legitimate MMA fighter with an 8-3 record. It would be 10-3 if later wins in his career weren’t overturned for failed marijuana drug tests. It was that habit of flunking tests that got him booted out of the UFC, not any issue with his actual skills as a fighter. He then left the MMA world to become a pro wrestler, and was doing pretty damn good at that too before multiple disturbing allegations about his treatment towards women surfaced.
Matt Riddle sighting at the #WorldMMAAwards, BRO.
Interesting to hear him talk about the possibility of making an MMA return in 2024. Said he’s talked to some promotions but didn’t wanted to get ahead of himself by naming names. pic.twitter.com/57gXgMnsK4
— Simon Samano (@SJSamano) December 15, 2023
Honestly, Jake Paul wouldn’t be in the position he is today if he were stupid enough to accept this kind of fight. Riddle does have a name of sorts, but nothing compared to option A, which is still Diaz. Win or lose, the Diaz fight elevates Paul’s career. Losing to Riddle (who, for context, beat Jon Jones in wrestling — twice!) would just be a week’s worth of punchline fodder for Twitch streamers.
We’ll keep you up to date on Paul’s continued search for an appropriately famous MMA opponent in their mid-40s whose abilities have fallen off a cliff.