YouTuber Jake Paul says fighting women’s UFC icon Amanda Nunes would be a “waste of time” and the promotion must allow a fight between him and Conor McGregor because it needs the $50 million on offer.
Paul has been angling for his next opponent since knocking out former NBA star Nate Robinson in the second round of their fight on the undercard of the Mike Tyson versus Roy Jones Jr event in November.
That was Paul’s second victory in two official boxing bouts – and the 23-year-old now has his sights trained on a big name from the world of MMA for his next dance partner in the ring.
Some of the names thrown around so far include retired former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, ex-welterweight contender Ben Askren and Bellator MMA fighter Dillon Danis – a friend and training partner of former two-weight UFC king Conor McGregor.
UFC boss Dana White, meanwhile, has said he could unleash Brazilian women’s two-weight queen Amanda Nunes on Paul, saying: “’I’m thinking of letting [her] knock his a** out.”
Nunes has since said she was up for a cross-gender contest, tweeting “I’m in!”.
But Paul – who last week taunted members of the MMA world including White and McGregor in a savage satire clip – has repeated that his goal is a lucrative showdown with McGregor, claiming again that he had a guaranteed $50 million offer on the table.
“I wouldn’t fight her,” Paul told TMZ when asked about a fight with Nunes. “Waste of time. No one knows who she is.
“Yeah [she’s the greatest female fighter of all time], but she has 1 million followers on Instagram, sh*t engagement.
“There’s not a lot of hype there. Plus, there’s no history.”
Paul launched what appeared to be a staged ‘toilet roll’ prank on Bellator fighter Danis a week ago and has also made audacious efforts to hook up with the jiu-jitsu specialist’s girlfriend, model Savannah Montano.
The YouTuber said fighting Danis made sense because he was “butt-hurt” about his approaches to Montano.
“I wanna knock out Dillon because we’ve been talking sh*t back and forth for 2 years, I’ve hooked up with his girlfriend, he’s all butt-hurt about it, there’s history there,” Paul said.
“And, Dillon is Conor’s best friend, and ultimately I want Conor.
“So, why would I waste my time doing some bullsh*t like [boxing Nunes?]”
According to Paul, UFC chief Dana White had dropped the ball on the negotiations over a fight with McGregor, and would be desperate for the money on offer.
“Why does Dana White say, ‘Oh, I don’t want Jake to fight Conor because Conor is one of the greatest fighters of all-time, but so is Amanda Nunes,’ so is he saying like women are inferior?,” Paul questioned.
“I don’t know what he’s doing. He’s fumbling this one, he’s not making sense with what he’s saying.
“First of all, the UFC needs that money, it’s $50 million in the bank account, that’s the biggest fight offer that’s ever been put on the table unless it’s Floyd Mayweather.”
Elsewhere, Paul’s brother and fellow YouTuber Logan is set to face former five-weight ring icon Mayweather in a somewhat implausible exhibition boxing bout on February 20.
Logan Paul has lost his only professional fight to date, dropping a split decision to British social media star KSI in November 2019.
