Former UFC women's champion Cris Cyborg praises Jake and Logan Paul for improving after each fight
Cris Cyborg believes YouTubers-turned-boxers like Jake and Logan Paul are doing a good job in the sport. The former UFC, Strikeforce, Invicta FC, and current Bellator women's featherweight champion has nothing but positive words for the Paul brothers, who are trying to make it big in boxing.
Speaking with MMA journalist James Lynch on her YouTube channel, Cris Cyborg gave her opinion on YouTubers coming into combat sports and whether or not some old-school fans are correct in taking issue with them.
Cris Cyborg said that it was different with the Paul brothers because they are not just YouTubers, they have been athletes for a long time as well. Both Jake Paul and Logan Paul were into wrestling and a few other sports during their time in college.
Cris Cyborg added that the Paul brothers are not only talking about combat sports, but are actually going out there and fighting, and improving with each performance as well.
She added their involvement is bringing more fans into boxing and MMA than ever before and that this is always a positive thing. Cyborg brought up Jake Paul's last fight as well, in which he knocked NBA player Nate Robinson out cold.
"You can see the last fight Paul did. You see he did great. You see he is improving, he's getting better. It's different you know. He has a lot of followers around him and followers like to watch what he's doing... They don't just go over there and talk, talk, talk. No. They are training hard, they're doing their best, they want to be real fighters and make good fights for the fans."
Cris Cyborg on a possible Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix tournament
Cris Cyborg was not re-signed by UFC after she lost her featherweight title to Amanda Nunes. Cris Cyborg signed with Bellator in September, 2019. In January, 2020, she faced Julia Budd for the Bellator Women's featherweight championship and secured a fourth-round victory via TKO. In her first and only defense of the title to date, Cyborg defeated Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 249 in October last year.
Talking about Bellator's light heavyweight tournament, Cris Cyborg said that she would love to have a "one-day finish, old-school style tournament" for the women in Bellator.
"It's something different you know. Tournaments help build mixed martial arts. People like to watch this."