'We need to send somebody real' - Daniel Cormier wants a UFC fighter to shut down Jake Paul
Daniel Cormier was in dismay when Jake Paul knocked out Ben Askren at the Triller Fight Club event last Saturday. A short altercation on Twitter also led to Jake Paul suggesting a matchup against Daniel Cormier.
While DC might not be interested in facing Jake Paul, he believes that someone from the MMA community needs to teach the YouTuber a lesson. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Cormier said he would try to persuade Dana White to send 'somebody real' against Paul. Daniel Cormier didn't think Jake Paul was worth sending anybody from the top five of the UFC rankings and wanted somebody 'on the fringe of the top 20' to represent MMA against Jake Paul -
'We need to send somebody real. When I see Dana [White] this weekend, I’ll be like, 'Hey, man, let’s send a guy over there.’"
Daniel Cormier had earlier voiced his disapproval of Jake Paul's behavior towards Tyron Woodley in the locker room. Refusing to pay heed to Cormier's warnings, Jake Paul proceeded to call him out.
Daniel Cormier doesn't want to 'punch down' to Jake Paul
While Daniel Cormier might question Jake Paul's legitimacy as a fighter, he did acknowledge Paul's development as a pugilist. On a recent episode of DC & Helwani, Cormier said -
"It’s time to stop calling this kid a YouTuber, because the kid has the understanding and fundamentals of boxing. Are they high level fundamentals? No, but he does understand"
Shrugging off any possibility of fighting Jake Paul, Daniel Cormier further said -
"This dude would never fight me. I would kill him. Why would I ever fight someone like that? But my immediate reaction was, ‘I can’t stand this kid.’ So it works! I can’t stand this kid! But who punches down? You don’t punch down to somebody. I’m the guy that’s in the Hall of Fame. I’m the guy that won two world championships at the same time."
“I’m not gonna punch down to some kid that’s on YouTube that’s, like, ‘Fight me!’ Like, why? What have you done to earn the right to fight me? So, no, it’s silly and stupid. But I would like him to fight Tyron. I would like to see him fight somebody more real. Don’t fight Ben Askren at 190, bloated."