Jake Paul insists it's 'undeniable' that he competes in UFC
Jake Paul continues to tease a move from boxing into mixed martial arts, saying a fight in the UFC will become undeniable in the future.
For now Paul is preparing for his next boxing bout which is scheduled to take place in August against an opponent to be determined. Down the road he still expects he'll compete in MMA, whether it's in the UFC or in another promotion. On the latest episode of The Fight with Teddy Atlas, Jake Paul said:
"I think it's timing. And proving myself more in the boxing side of things, and pretty soon the UFC and MMA side, it'll be undeniable for me to get into the octagon or fight for one of these other organizations against a big name. So I think it's all a timing thing. And Dana seems to be open to it. He said on my brother's podcast he might let Logan fight in the UFC. And I think he's coming around to me and starting to see what I'm about and what I actually stand for. Obviously he doesn't like me harping on the fighter pay side of thing and sorta harming his business, and being a shareholder in Endeavor and pushing on the investment side of things. There's definitely a feud there, so ... we'll see what happens."
Watch the full interview with Jake Paul below:
Jake Paul turned down an offer from Dana White to fight in the UFC
UFC president Dana White has generally taken a 'never say never' approach to Jake Paul fighting in the UFC, but it's clear he's not willing to go out of his way to try and make things work. That doesn't mean he wasn't willing to put together an offer.
According to White, he made a serious bid for Paul's services but was turned down. White told Sky Sports:
"I made an offer to him. He was talking s**t, I made an offer to him. Obviously he didn't want to do it. It's all good. There's always going to be a market for what he does. This just isn't the place."
Most of Paul's offers have involved demands that the UFC change its pay structure for all fighters.
Dana - Since you like me now, how about a 1 fight UFC deal to fight Conor.
If I win, you agree to my UFC fighter pay and healthcare proposal.
If I lose I donate my entire purse to all UFC fighters who make less than $50K a fight and never mention UFC again
Deal?
Paul explained his stance with Teddy Atlas, saying:
"I love the UFC, I'm a fan of the UFC. The UFC is like the NFL and yeah, to Dana's credit he's done such a great job of making the sport so much more relevant in a short amount of time. But the issue for me is now that they are like the NFL, they're still only paying their fighters 15% of the total revenue, and not giving them long term healthcare."