UFC lightweight contender and fan favourite personality, Paddy Pimblett (19-3), has verbally agreed to spar with YouTuber-turned-professional boxer Jake Paul (6-0) for five three-minute boxing rounds with $1 million up for grabs if the Scouser manages to beat the American.
It all started when The Baddy questioned the legitimacy of Paulโs professional boxing bouts during his appearance on MOLA TVโs Pub Talk podcast.
โIโll give Jake Paul his due now, heโs training that much he probably could beat professional boxers. Heโs got unlimited funds and he hasnโt got to do anything else. He hasnโt got to go do a job, all heโs got to do is box,โ Paddy Pimblett prefaced his criticisms.
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โHe gets the best coaches in, the best nutritionists in and stuff like that. Jake Paul is actually not that bad now, even though I think his fights are fixed.โ
When asked to elaborate on his fight-fixing accusations, Pimblett pointed to Paulโs most recent unanimous decision victory over former UFC middleweight champion and MMA icon Anderson Silva.
โI donโt think the Tyron Woodley knockout was fixed because when you get knocked out like that and you land face first, if youโre not unconscious youโre [going to put your arms out]. You canโt help it, thatโs a human reaction.โ
โBut I seen an angle of a punch he hit Anderson Silva with the other day when he sat down, he didnโt even hit him.โ
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As you can imagine, Jake Paul didnโt take too kindly to any of this.
โPoor Paddy Pimblett, man. I was really wanting to like you. I really was. Youโve got a cute little thing going for you, man, but then you come out and say my fight against Anderson Silva was rigged,โ The Problem Child opened his Twitter response with a sigh.
โIโm sick and tired of this narrative. Itโs pathetic. Itโs stupid. Youโre disrespecting the GOAT of your own sport. Youโre saying Anderson Silva is a criminal. Youโre saying heโs a fraud. Youโre saying that Viacom, one of the biggest media companies in the world, is doing criminal stuff.โ
Appealing to Pimblettโs integrity and apparent refusal to take a dive, thatโs when Paul threw down the gauntlet: a five-round sparring session, three minutes a pop, with a cash prize should the boxer fall to the mixed martial artist.
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โFly to Puerto Rico, Iโll get you a private jetโฆ if you win, Iโll give you $1 million dollars. Which is what you deserve to get paid, Paddy. You know it. But the UFCโs not paying you that. You deserve to get paid more,โ Paul continued, reigniting his longstanding pay dispute beef with UFC President Dana White.
โBut if I win, you have to join United Fighters Association and help me sign up all the fighters in the UK. So letโs spar. Since you wouldnโt rig a fight, fly you out, a million for you. Put your money where your mouth is.โ
Paddy Pimblett responded to Jake Paul soon after via TMZ Sports.
โOf course [Iโm interested], but Iโm under contract by the UFC and he said this knowing full well Iโm fighting next week, know what I mean?โ Pimblett told the showโs host Michael Babcock.
โAs if he does not know Iโm fighting next week and heโs like, โIโll fly you to Puerto Rico.โ Come to the [UFC Performance Institute] next week and bring $1 million in a bag and I will spar with you.โ
โIโm in the PI in Vegas on Thursday, I land on Thursday, so even though Iโm low on calories and Iโm only about 170, he likes picking on smaller people anyway.
โBut, if he wants to wait until after my fight, until the Monday, because Iโm still in Vegas โtil the Tuesday, but Iโm about 185, 190 pounds, Iโm game!โ
โTell him not to worry, he can come to PI and we can get in the cage. Simple as.โ
While Paddy Pimblett is predominantly known for his grappling prowess as opposed to being a feared striker, heโd certainly represent the first active UFC athlete Jake Paul has faced, the latter having famously padded his CV with retirees: wrestler Ben Asken (coming off a sedentary year of recovering from back surgery), yet another wrestler in Tyron Woodley (gunshy as all hell and beyond his prime), and as previously mentioned, 47-year-old fight veteran Anderson Silva.
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Additionally, despite walking around at a heavier natural weight, Pimblett fights in the UFC lightweight division (155-pound limit) whereas Paul is a boxing cruiserweight (200-pound limit); if this were to go ahead, The Baddy would be sacrificing a whole lot of size. And it might actually shape up to be closer than weโre comfortable with admitting. In any case, this whole shitshow has definitely piqued our interest.
Paddy Pimblettโs next fight is scheduled to go down later this month at UFC 282 in a co-main bout against Jared Gordon (19-5). Jake Paulโs next fight, on the other hand, has yet to be announced, although he has apparently sent out offers to three opponents with the mindset of returning to the ring come February 2023.
