"Why not?" - Scott Coker ready to bring in "great athletes" Jake and Logan Paul to Bellator
Jake and Logan Paul have both been teasing an MMA debut since they started holding boxing pay-per-views in 2018. With the two making so much money being their own promoters, it's hard to imagine a situation where they're willing to sign a UFC contract.
Bellator MMA already works with Jake Paul's partners at Showtime Boxing, and president Scott Coker sounded much more interested in working with the brothers. Leading up to Bellator 277, he told TMZ Sports:
"We've had conversations with his brother and Jake about what MMA means to you guys and what do you want to do. They're ongoing dialog, but if they wanna really get down and really get serious and do it, we would bring them in, sure, why not. Because I think those guys are great athletes, they're young, they're learning, they're getting better and better and better."
Coker laid out what he thought a successful entry into MMA would look like for Jake and Logan Paul:
"They get into a gym like [American Kickboxing Academy] with Javier Mendez? Talk to me in a year, they'll be doing really well ... If they had their minds made up, I think they could get into it. Could they come in and win a fight against a world champion or someone who's been doing this, one of our title holders? Probably not. But could they fight somebody decent? I think they could."
Watch the full TMZ Sports interview with Scott Coker below:
Dana White isn't saying no to Logan Paul fighting in the UFC
While Jake Paul has made his feud with Dana White a cornerstone of his promotional strategy, Logan Paul is on decent terms with the UFC president. White recently sat down for an episode of Logan Paul's ImPaulsive podcast and sounded open to the idea of bringing the older Paul brother into the promotion. He said:
"Who would you want to fight? You have wrestling. And boxing. Do you ever do jiu-jitsu? Yeah? I'm not saying no. I'm not saying no."
Dana White is open to having Logan Paul fight in the UFC https://t.co/1EEj0X5DEi
Dana White is generally extremely resistant to bringing in unconventional fighters without extensive and legitimate MMA backgrounds. There have been exceptions, though.
CM PUNK vs JACKSON!!! https://t.co/pCWof0cZ4n
In 2010, Randy Couture fought former boxing champ James Toney, submitting him with an arm triangle just three minutes into their bout. In 2014, the UFC signed pro wrestling superstar CM Punk, who would go on to lose both of his fights in 2016 and 2018.