Jake Paul needed just three fights to do something Jon Jones failed to in combat sports.
The UFC GOAT contender’s career in mixed martial arts came to an end recently, when Dana White announced Jones’ retirement.
That news concluded a period of uncertainty and frustration in the heavyweight division due to Jones’ refusal to fight Tom Aspinall, the former interim and now undisputed champion.
While that’s left some suggesting that ‘Bones’ has damaged his legacy, others have been more complimentary in congratulating Jones on an illustrious career.
The Rochester native’s accomplishments have put him among the greatest of all time in the UFC. But there was one feat he seemingly failed to achieve – one million pay-per-view buys.
Jake Paul reportedly hit a million PPV buys against one of Jon Jones’ MMA peers
According to Tapology’s records, the retiring UFC legend achieved his highest PPV buy tally at UFC 214, where Jones fought Daniel Cormier in their rematch.
That event reportedly hit 860,000 buys, a total that Jake Paul surpassed in just his third professional boxing match and first main event.
One of the YouTuber-turned-pugilist’s first high-profile outings came against Ben Askren, who won titles in Bellator and ONE Championship before a brief stint under the UFC banner.
Paul proved Dana White and others wrong by knocking ‘Funky’ out in the very first round. And the fight, which headlined an event that also featured prominent names such as Regis Prograis and Frank Mir, reportedly attracted 1.45 million buys.
While ‘The Problem Child’ later claimed to have surpassed 1.5 million, the UFC CEO was quick to call the figures out as a blatant lie.
“The numbers that you’re hearing that they did are full of s—. They’re full of s—,” White said during the UFC 261 post-fight presser. “They didn’t pull those kinds of numbers at all. Not even f—— close.”
There were rumors that Jones’ return to win the heavyweight title at UFC 285 hit one million buys. That remains unconfirmed, with manager Ali Abdelaziz being among those making the claim publicly.
Jake Paul targets next PPV success against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
While things started positively for Paul in the combat sports PPV business, he hasn’t always had success in that area.
The Cleveland native notably commented on his match against Anderson Silva flopping on PPV, claiming that speculation of ‘The Spider’ pulling out led to a significant decrease in pre-buys.
After Paul’s win over Nate Diaz fell short of 500,000 buys, the former Disney star hit record viewership last November as one half of the very first live combat sports event on Netflix, on which Paul fought and beat Mike Tyson.
The 28-year-old will now return to PPV on DAZN, as he looks to make it six wins on the bounce against former WBC champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on June 28.