'I was offered $500,000' - Michael Bisping claims he rejected a half-million dollar offer to fight Jake Paul
Michael Bisping recently revealed that he was offered $500,000 for a boxing match against YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
In a recent episode of his podcast 'Believe You Me', Bisping weighed in on Paul's recently announced matchup against former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.
After rejecting the $500,000 offer to fight Jake Paul, Michael Bisping believes that Tyron Woodley must have been offered a higher sum for him to have accepted the fight.
While Bisping speculated that Woodley might have bagged a million-dollar deal, he stated he's happy for 'The Chosen One'. Speaking about Woodley's professional boxing debut, Michael Bisping said on his podcast-
"I'm happy for him. I don’t know what [Woodley is] going to get paid, but I’ll tell you right now. I was offered $500,000 to fight Jake Paul, so I would assume it’s probably more since the fight’s happening. So good for him. He might go out there and might be getting $1 million, and I couldn’t be happier for Tyron, because he really deserves it."
Confirming that the offer had indeed been made, Jake Paul's representative, Nakisa Bidarian, later told MMA Fighting-
"I have nothing but respect and admiration for him and have always had a good relationship with him and his team. Jake was absolutely interested in fighting Michael Bisping and an offer was made by us. Unfortunately, we could not come to terms that made sense for the event at that time."
Michael Bisping lauds Jake Paul's passion for combat sports
After his highlight-reel knockout win over Ben Askren, Jake Paul is being considered a legitimate boxer by pundits and fans alike.
Michael Bisping also had some words of praise for the 24-year-old while discussing his upcoming fight against Tyron Woodley. Commending Paul for taking a 'real fight', Bisping said-
“Fair play to Jake Paul as well. You can't blame the f----- guy. He's being an entrepreneur. He's taking his fan base and parlaying it into a way of making money in the boxing world because he's got a passion for combat sports. He's taking on a real fight. Tyon Woodley is a proper fighter. It's not a walk in the park"
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