"Khabib is not into these jokes and pranks" - Ali Abdelaziz doesn't believe Jake Paul is serious about training with Khabib Nurmagomedov
Ali Abdelaziz seemingly believes that Jake Paul is not serious about training with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov or competing in MMA. Paul, a YouTube megastar-turned-boxing star, had previously asserted that he’d like to compete in a few more boxing matches and then also try his hand at MMA.
‘The Problem Child’ claimed last year that he’d discussed the possibility of working on his MMA skills alongside Nurmagomedov and coach Javier Mendez of the world-renowned AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) gym.
. @danawhite when I make my MMA debut, I could cut 20 pounds & do it at Welterweight / 170 pounds. That’s what all UFC fighters do and many have destroyed their bodies & minds doing it.
But I’m gonna do it at Middleweight (185). Health first.
PS Conor walking around at 190 https://t.co/ifR8ed3FTE
Furthermore, in a tweet posted a few days back, Jake Paul suggested that he could fight UFC legend Conor McGregor in a middleweight MMA bout. This tweet elicited a response from Nurmagomedov, who invited Paul to compete for Eagle FC.
On that note, Kevin Iole of ‘Yahoo Sports!’ questioned Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdelaziz as to whether 'The Eagle' was serious about letting the cruiserweight boxer compete in MMA bouts for Eagle FC.
@jakepaul @danawhite the doors of @EagleFightClub always open for you and your team.
Paul, on his part, tweeted that he’d fight for Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC MMA organization, albeit only if his first fight was against Nurmagomedov.
по рукам. только если я буду драться с тобой первым.
deal. only if I fight you first. twitter.com/TeamKhabib/sta…
Iole asked Ali Abdelaziz if there could be a potential collaboration between Paul and his manager Nakisa Bidarian on the one hand and Nurmagomedov and Abdelaziz on the other. Abdelaziz responded by stating:
“I don’t know if Jake Paul is ready to come fight some of these guys. Listen, at the end of the day, Khabib is not into these jokes and pranks; all this kind of stuff. If you think you’re real fighter and you for real, you wanna come here, you gonna fight. But if you think you’re going to get feed up old, washed-up fighters – and somebody can’t wrestle, can’t grapple – it’s wrong. But at the end of the day, it’s a business. Jake Paul is a big star. They say he’s a big star. I don’t know, like, some people said he had big numbers, some people – you know, his YouTube number is huge. I don’t really got nothing personal against him.”
Abdelaziz insinuated that while Paul did KO UFC veteran Tyron Woodley, ‘T-Wood’ hadn’t previously competed as a boxer and was past his athletic prime when he fought the YouTuber.
Regardless, Abdelaziz clarified that he does respect Paul as he stepped into the boxing ring to compete. He indicated, however, that he doesn’t like some of Paul’s antics and trash-talking tactics that the influencer utilizes for self-promotion.
Watch Ali Abdelaziz’s conversation with Kevin Iole in the video below:
Javier Mendez on Jake Paul potentially training at AKA
Retired MMA great Khabib Nurmagomedov’s longtime head coach Javier Mendez recently addressed Jake Paul’s claims that he’s been in discussions to partake in MMA training at the AKA gym.
The AKA founder thanked Paul for the plug but explained that others at the gym would have to vote on whether they’ll allow him to train there. Speaking to The Schmo, Mendez said:
"They will go through the routine that everybody does so he [Paul] would have to get voted by everybody. If there's one person in particular that doesn't want him here for that particular reason, he can't be here, so everybody would have to vote."
Jake Paul is rumored to be boxing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Anderson Silva next. Nevertheless, the aforementioned matchups as well as Paul's comeback date haven’t been officially confirmed yet.