Octagon icon Randy Couture is a fan of what Jake Paul is trying to do for the sport of mixed martial arts.
Couture is one of the most recognizable names in MMA, having claimed the UFC heavyweight title three times and the promotion’s light heavyweight crown on two separate occasions during his iconic 14-year run.
But despite his long and well-respected history with the UFC, the Hall of Famer is not particularly fond of the way his ex-employer is doing business these days.
Recently, ‘The Natural’ lobbed criticism at the UFC for abusing its power to sidestep its own ranking system in favor of big-money matchups and crowning unnecessary interim champions.
“Why is there an interim championship to begin with? Because that’s going to sell and get more fans’ attention,” Couture told Dylan Bowker in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA. “They don’t use the rankings they have, they bypass those all the time… That’s all in the same boat of a lack of transparency. It’s way too much power for a promoter to be making matches and ranking those same fighters that are going to get those matches.“
Couture also heaped praise on his current employer, the Professional Fighters League, for sticking to a sports format that features a regular season, playoffs, and championship with no interference from executives with ulterior motives.
Couture didn’t stop there, commending YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul for attempting to bring more attention to the UFC’s sketchy matchmaking ethics through his own prizefighting endeavours.
“One of the reasons why I love the PFL model, is their true sports format with a regular season, a playoff, and a championship every year… It’s not the traditional prizefighting model either, but it makes a lot more sense… I’m happy that Jake Paul is highlighting that through these crossover boxing matches.”
Randy Couture may be overlooking some important facts with his praise of Jake Paul and the PFL
‘The Natural’ must have forgotten about that time when the PFL pulled Natan Schulte from the playoffs in 2022 after he defeated Raush Manfio because the bout “did not meet the standards which all PFL fighters agree to uphold in competition.”
As for Jake Paul, Couture seems to be completely neglecting the fact that the 27-year-old professional boxer has been making a name for himself by competing against handpicked ex-MMA stars who are way past their expiration date.
Even when competing against another active fighter, ‘The Problem Child’ tends to go for those he’ll outweigh by 20-30 pounds come fight night, just as he did in his most recent outing against bare-knuckle brawler ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry who, by the way, had never once competed in a traditional boxing match until that night.
