Jake Paul has two names in mind for his mixed martial arts debut.
Last year, ‘The Problem Child’ signed a deal with the Professional Fighters League to make his eventual MMA premiere inside the Smart Cage. Thus far, Paul has not booked a bout in four-ounce gloves, but he recently revealed that offers are ready to go out and he already has a few names on his wishlist, including one man he’s already met inside the squared circle.
“Just about finding the name. We have the money, we’re ready to go,” Paul said while attending a PFL media scrum in Washington. “We’re ready to make offers to people. It’s just like they have to be able to draw sales and it has to be a fight where it’s like this is my first MMA fight.
“So I think I could beat Nate Diaz in my first MMA fight. It would be tough of course, a 50/50 fight. But I don’t wanna go into something where I’m gonna be outclassed, like fighting Khabib in my first MMA fight” (h/t The Sun).
Paul earned a unanimous decision win over Diaz in the sweet science around this time last year and has been trying to goad the ‘Stockton Samurai’ into an MMA rematch ever since. Thus far, Diaz has not taken the bait, but the former UFC star did confirm that running it back with Paul is on the agenda.
The Problem Child’ also named former BMF titleholder Jorge Masvidal as a potential opponent for his first MMA bout. That could prove to be tricky considering Masvidal is still technically under contract with the UFC, but maybe ‘Gamebred’ will cut Dana White in on the potentially massive PFL payday in exchange for a permission slip.
“Nate Diaz, Masvidal, I would face in MMA and then I don’t even know like who else is out there that would make sense really,” Paul continued. “Tyron [Woodley] would be interesting for sure. I think that could be like a good plan. That would go crazy.”
A trilogy fight between Paul and Tyron Woodley could prove to be interesting after Paul handily defeated the former UFC welterweight champion in back-to-back bouts a few years ago.
Jake Paul continues to focus on boxing as his fight with mike tyson approaches
With no opponent in place, Paul continues to focus on boxing, but will be ready to transition his training to MMA once he has both a date and a name on his calendar.
“I haven’t started training, just the boxing takes up so much of my time and that’s what I’m focused on and until an MMA fight comes up,” Paul said. That’s when I’ll focus on it and I’ll probably need like an eight-month camp if I do an MMA fight just the eight months to do jiu-jitsu, kicking all that stuff.
For now, ‘The Problem Child’ will focus on his upcoming clash with legendary pugilist ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson.
Originally, their clash was scheduled for July 20, but a medical issue on Tyson’s end forced the fight to be postponed. Now set for Friday, November 15, the fight will emanate from the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and air on Netflix, making it the streaming giant’s first-ever live sports broadcast.
