Jake Paul has claimed that he still wants to fight Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz in a mixed martial arts bout at the PFL. ‘The Problem Child’ had, of course, easily defeated Diaz in a boxing match last year, and had offered a $10 million MMA rematch at the PFL, which the former BMF competitor has not accepted, reportedly for fear of angering UFC CEO Dana White.
The former Disney star, who is setting up to face Mike Tyson in a controversial bout on July 20, has claimed that the offer to the UFC stars was still on the table. “I’m being so serious when I say that I wanna fight them in MMA, either Masvidal or Diaz in the PFL. $10 million offer,” he said.
Jake Paul wants to fight Nate Diaz or Jorge Masvidal in MMA after Mike Tyson 😯 pic.twitter.com/6CgMxZEDiU
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) April 18, 2024
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The offer was open for not only them but also other MMA stars such as Sean Strickland and Paddy Pimblett, who, too, had gone back and forth with the celebrity boxer online. “And the same with Paddy and Sean Strickland, all of guys like hide behind these crazy things, but none of them have shown up to the table to make anything happen. So the offer still stands there,” Jake Paul added.
Of course, Masvidal and Diaz are nearly one month away from their boxing match, a rematch of their UFC 244 BMF title bout that was stopped by the doctor in the third round because of serious cuts on Diaz’s face. The two, who are not on the UFC roster currently, have therefore decided to have their rematch in boxing. This has made some fans unhappy as they wanted to see them fight again in MMA.
However, the fans’ unhappiness is nothing compared to how unhappy they are over Paul’s upcoming fight against Mike Tyson.
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Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul angers the martial arts world
Mike Tyson is perhaps the biggest and the most popular martial artist alive, despite having retired nearly two decades ago. The youngest heavyweight champion of the world, Tyson will be 58 years old by the time he faces Paul in the ring. While ‘Iron Mike’ did face the former superstar boxer in an exhibition back in 2020, he has not fought at all since his retirement.
In addition, the New York native suffers from a bevy of health problems, which he has spoken about on his ‘Hotboxin’ podcast. Jake Paul, on the other hand, is just 27 years old and in his athletic prime. The California native has fought three times in the last year alone, winning two of them.
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Given this disparity in age and athletic ability between the two men, the bout is not expected to be competitive, with even Jake’s brother, Logan Paul trashing the bout, calling Tyson too old to fight. Needless to say, the MMA world is up in arms and is downright angry at the July 20 contest on account of it being almost definitely uncompetitive.
What do you think about Paul’s comments? Let us know in the comments.