Jake Paul took the world of combat sports by surprise when he decided to call out Alex Pereira after knocking out Mike Perry in the 6th round of their boxing bout. The fighting community was just not ready for Paul to call out yet another mixed martial artist for an exchange of punches in the squared ring. But since the man with the ‘hands of stone’ affirmed that he wanted to fight ‘The Problem Child’, Dana White might have to allow the Brazilian to do so. But there’s a theory ongoing that the YouTuber- turned boxer had other motives behind his callout!

We will get to that, but affirming a showdown between the UFC double champ and the boxer is something many big names in the fighting world seemingly stand by. Even Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman stood in support of the fight. Let’s see what the UFC fighters had to say about the matchup.

Dana White will have to allow Alex Pereira to fight Jake Paul

On the 23rd of July, 2024, Usman and Cejudo sat down together on the set of their talk show, ‘Pound4Pound’, and talked about Paul’s callout. When ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ asked ‘Triple C’ about it, the former freestyle wrestler opined that it would be utterly ridiculous. Pereira was one of the strongest fighters in the world of combat sports. MMA analysts like Chael Sonnen placed the Brazilian in the same league as Mike Tyson and Anderson Silva. After all, MMA fighters have begun to fear Pereira’s strong left hook now. 

Cejudo said, “Pereira would hurt him like you see Pereira going up against heavyweights. And of course, dude, if Dana White will give a guy like Alex Pereira, to freaking pretty much wipe him out say, ‘Hey man, go out there and hurt him’, I mean, but that’s an equal lot of pay-per-view points for, for a guy like Jake Paul.” Needless to say, it was all in the hands of the UFC head honcho to make this fight happen. 

Cejudo continued to uplift the YouTuber-turned-professional boxer’s tendency to pay his opponents well. He pointed out that Paul’s legacy even raised Tyson’s stakes from an estimated $20 million to $30 million for their fight. Judging from the big money in the matchup, ‘Triple C’ believed that the UFC CEO might give the permission that the UFC light heavyweight champion needs. 

The bantamweight fighter continued, “And I think I can see Dana White allowing Alex Pereira to get, you know, to take out the dirty work… But that being said, will the fight with Alex Pereira happen? Dana White just has to say yes and, you know, we will no longer see Jake Paul, Jake ‘The Snake’ Paul on our social media platforms.”

But do you know the reality behind the callout for the LHW champ? Well, it wasn’t a call directed at Pereira. Rather, it was for the UFC head honcho. At least that’s what Tyron Woodley seemed to believe.

‘The Problem Child’ called out the UFC CEO and not the champ

Right after the shocking callout, Dave Schmulenson interviewed the former UFC welterweight fighter at the Amalie Arena. As expected, the fight reporter asked Woodley about his opinion on the callout for Pereira. But the netizens didn’t expect what the ex-UFC fighter had to say. He did point out that ‘Poatan’ was still under contract with the UFC and would require special permission to fight under a different banner.

Woodley opined, “I mean, I think it was more so of a Dana callout, you know. We all know as a champion, every time you win a strap and defend, your contract is the end of the year. He know that only Dana can make that happen. So, if he’s calling out and he wants it and Pereira wants it, we seen him on Facetime, it’s up to Dana to make this fight happen. So, I think it was more of that than it was anything else.” 

Given the heat that has been emanating from the two sides, will White give the green light to Pereira and let him fight Paul? That’s something that only time can tell.