Jake Paul insists he is still planning to crossover to MMA in the near future.
In January 2023, ‘The Problem Child’ signed a multi-fight deal to compete in MMA under the PFL banner.
More than two years later, Jake Paul appears to be fully locked in on his 11-1 professional boxing career.
He’ll square off against former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on June 28 – but the 28-year-old YouTuber-turned-fighter promises that he will start training soon for his eagerly anticipated MMA debut.
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Jake Paul vs Oleksandr Usyk in MMA?
On Wednesday, Jake Paul and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. came face-to-face at a launch press conference.
Former UFC champion Holly Holm was alongside him after signing a deal with Most Valuable Promotions.
“Yeah, I want to be like Holly here and test my skills in the cage,” he said when asked if he still plans to compete in MMA.
“That’s something I’m super, super interested in, and I think it would be a very, very big spectacle.
“Nate Diaz is still ducking, but we would need to find the right opponent. [Oleksandr] Usyk, maybe.”
Paul’s business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, jumped in to explain why an MMA fight with boxing’s best heavyweight is a real possibility.
“Usyk has called out Jake multiple times in MMA. They’ve been in touch with us behind the scenes saying they wanna do that fight in 2026. So it’s something that we definitely want to pursue.”
Paul added: “I haven’t started any MMA training, so it would definitely be interesting.
“We are looking at 2026 for that as a possibility.”
Dan Hardy doubts Jake Paul would fight Oleksandr Usyk
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, PFL’s Dan Hardy spoke about the prospect of Oleksandr Usyk competing in MMA against Jake Paul.
“I know for a fact that Usyk is interested, like legitimately interested in fighting in MMA,” he said.
“He’s the kind of person, he’s eccentric enough to have a wrestling skillset or he’s like a brown belt in, something like that. I would imagine he’s the kind of person that just happened to pick up a brown belt along the way between fights. He seems like an interesting person who would take to MMA very well.
“The downside to Jake Paul though is unless his wrestling is up to par, that’s a horrible fight for him in boxing or mixed martial arts. Usyk’s a smart guy with great footwork, he’s ambidextrous. I think he would be a problem in mixed martial arts.
“I think if we see Jake Paul, he’s gonna be fighting someone that’s well into their 40s if it’s an MMA fight.”