Jake Paul remains undefeated as a boxer following his latest win on Saturday, but his success has ruffled more than a few feathers inside the world of combat sports.
“Let me save the MMA community,” one fighter, Dillon Danis, tweeted after Paul defeated Ben Askren in just 1:59 via technical knockout.
Paul’s victory, in a pay-per-view event promoted by Triller Fight Club, has moved him to 3-0 in his burgeoning boxing career. And in typical Paul fashion, he’s ticking people off along the way.
New MMA Challengers Step Up
There was a big difference between Paul’s first two victories inside the ropes and his third. At first, Paul agreed to fights with other nontraditional opponents. In January 2020 he defeated fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, and last November at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, he knocked out former NBA star Nate Robinson in the second round.
But Ben Askren was no celebrity opponent — he actually made a career as an MMA fighter, retiring with a 19-2-1 record before accepting the fight with Paul. To be fair, Askren had never fought specifically in a boxing match and was more skilled as a wrestler, but his background lent legitimacy to the match.
So when Paul won, it seemed many fighters felt there was an impostor on their turf.
“Hey @triller send me a contract and I will happily knock this f*cker out in one round,” former UFC champion B.J. Penn tweeted in response to Paul’s gloating celebration tweet.
“Enjoy saying you are a fighter for another day,” wrote another UFC champ, Tyron Woodley. “Try that sh*t against me i’m catching a body @jakepaul And you mob with h*es. I wouldn’t walk into a pillow fight with them.”
Another former basketball pro, Kendall Gill, also challenged Paul after his victory Saturday.
Could Conor McGregor Get Involved?
Paul has made it no secret who he really wants to do battle with: Irish MMA legend Conor McGregor. With his victory over Askren under his belt, Paul believes he’s got a chance.
“There are a lot of people (I could fight). But honestly, when it comes down to signing the contract, these guys duck,” Paul said after the match. “Honestly, we’ll see. The McGregor fight just became more realistic, like I’ve been saying. I just want to do big fights.”
It’s unclear if McGregor, who is currently preparing for his on-again, off-again trilogy match against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, would take a challenge from Paul seriously.
Paul’s Polarizing Past
It’s not just the sports world where Paul is — to put it lightly — not a well-liked figure. He courted controversy during his initial rise to fame with annoying and sometimes dangerous behavior.
Not only did reports of Paul’s raucous house parties and dirt-bike drag races eventually lead to his firing from the Disney show “Bizaardvark”, but in 2020 he was charged with unlawful assembly when he was identified in video of an Arizona mall being looted during the George Floyd protests. (Paul claimed he was merely filming the act.)
Later in 2020, the FBI raided Paul’s mansion and seized multiple guns, reportedly in connection with his Arizona arrest.
Brother Logan In On The Act
What, as if one Paul brother in the sport wasn’t enough?
Jake Paul’s equally famous brother, Logan, is itching to get in on the act. He’s only had one official fight to date, in which he lost by split decision to English YouTuber KSI, but he has a much bigger opponent in mind: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Mayweather agreed to an exhibition fight against Logan Paul that was originally scheduled for Feb. 20, 2021, but was eventually postponed to a date yet to be determined.
During Jake Paul’s match, his big brother posted a video in order to taunt Mayweather:
Logan Paul on Twitter: “.@floydmayweather you see this https://t.co/fpRzyiUukd” / Twitter
Mayweather is considered one of the best boxers of all time, with a perfect 50-0 record and 27 knockouts, but maybe he’ll go easy on his unproven opponent. Or not.
