"He's gonna fight Clint Eastwood next" - Jake Paul and Mike Tyson's "31-year age difference" concerns Dana White
Dana White is unhappy about the age dynamic in the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight.
Paul is set to fight Tyson on July 20 in an event that will take place at the AT&T Center in Arlington, Texas. It will be broadcast live on Netflix. The bizarre fight has been heavily criticized for the massive age gap between the two. While Paul turned 27 in January, Tyson will be 58 years old when the fight takes place.
UFC CEO Dana White has been a vocal critic of influencer boxing and has registered his strong disapproval of it several times. The 54-year-old shares a close personal relationship with Tyson and did not align with his decision to accept a fight against Paul.
During a recent appearance on the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru and Henry podcast, White reaffirmed his stance:
"I love Mike and I hate talking about it because he always gets mad at me when I talk about this stuff. But when the fight happens, he'll be 58 years old. There will be a 31-year age difference between these two."
White, who has been playing around with the hilarious 'Jake Paul vs. Clint Eastwood' meme recently, added:
"Jake Paul did fight a kid his age [Tommy Fury] and he lost. I just saw this thing on the internet yesterday and I reposted it where it says if he beats Mike Tyson, he's going to fight Clint Eastwood next who's 93 years old."
Catch Dana White's comments below (41:50):
Dana White proposes theory about Jake Paul's intentions behind fighting over-the-hill famous fighters
While many people feel that Jake Paul has entered the professional boxing circuit to earn money, he has stressed that his goal is to become a boxing world champion. However, Paul has been heavily criticized for fighting popular fighters who are well past their prime.
For instance, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, and Nate Diaz, three of Paul's most notable opponents, hold a 5-15 combined record (in MMA and boxing) over the last five years.
While discussing Paul vs. Tyson during the same podcast episode, Kamaru Usman suggested that Paul should not fight old fighters if he wants to be taken seriously as a professional fighter.
In response, Dana White shared his thoughts on why Paul might be hand-picking older opponents. He said (from 44:35):
"He [Jake Paul] doesn't even want to be taken seriously. What Jake wants is - Jake wants to make money. The people that follow Jake Paul, don't buy Jake Paul's fights. So Jake has to fight people who can actually sell pay-per-views."
Despite being too old for fighting, Mike Tyson has looked sharp in his recent training videos. But it remains to be seen if it will be enough to beat a much younger Jake Paul.