UFC president Dana White has made his stance clear on a potential boxing fight of Alex Pereira vs. Jake Paul. Poatan’ Pereira is the UFC light heavyweight champion and ‘The Problem Child’ Jake Paul is a professional boxer and YouTube star.
Alex Pereira vs. Jake Paul
A fight rumor between Alex Pereira and Jake Paul had been circulating as of late. After ‘The Problem Child’ knocked out BKFC and UFC athlete Mike Perry in a boxing match, then Jake Paul called out the UFC champion ‘Poatan.’ He even phoned the Brazilian striker while in the ring and Pereira agreed to the matchup.
However, a showdown between the two seems unlikely. The UFC typically does not allow active fighters to compete outside of the organization even in blockbuster boxing fights. Francis Ngannou, heavyweight champion, was hoping to work with the UFC on a boxing career but they were not receptive, and the Cameroonian athlete is not alone. Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather in 2017 was the only exception, a very rare moment in how the UFC acts.
Originally, Pereira did intend to have a boxing career. But with a late start into combat sports, the Brazilian instead chose to become a kickboxer. Since then he has earned two division titles in both GLORY Kickboxing and the UFC. ‘Poatan’ is well known and feared for his knockout power.
On facing Alex Pereira, ‘The Problem Child’ said:
“Alex Pereira, you said you want to box, I’m the king of this. Come over, we can make it happen. I want you Alex Pereira. I just beat a BKFC champion. I beat multiple UFC champions. He said he wants to box. Alex Pereira, after Mike Tyson, let’s make it happen.”
“These guys aren’t their own bosses. I want all the smoke, but at the end of the day, will Dana [White] let him out? That’s too bit of a risk if I could embarrass his No. 1 most praised fighter right now.” [H/t MMAFighting]
Since becoming a professional boxer, the YouTube star Paul has defeated fighters such as Ben Askren, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, and Nate Diaz, plus has a lone loss to Tommy Fury.
Dana White Responds to Jake Paul
When asked about a potential Paul vs. Pereira fight, in an interview with TNT Sports, he laughed it off. Dana White added:
“I haven’t even talked to Perry in a long time and I didn’t even know Jake Paul was fighting. I was on vacation in Italy, I had no idea. There’s all these stories that were written, it’s ridiculous. I stopped paying attention to Jake Paul when he lost to Fury, you know what I mean. It’s like when he fought somebody that was his age and actually boxed, he lost and I’m not s******* on the kid, I don’t even think about him anymore.
“It doesn’t even cross my mind. I have no beef with him. ‘They’re trying to get me assassinated’. Nobody’s trying to get you assassinated especially, listen, I respect Perry. Smaller, older, I mean it’s the same blueprint that they’re fighting older, smaller guys that, it’s just I literally don’t even think about him anymore. It’s all b*******.” [H/t MMANews]
Dana White, UFC president, seems like he is not taking the Jake Paul boxing career seriously nor is he paying attention to it. Tommy Fuy, the brother of heavyweight king Tyson Fury, gave Paul his first career loss in boxing. Tommy Fury is not known for his boxing game nor is he highly respected or ranked in boxing, he is best known as a reality TV star. However, Jake paul continues to sell fights and will eventually compete in MMA with the PFL.