YouTube-turned-boxer Jake Paul has a few fighters lined up for his next bout, and one of them could soon be retired UFC legend Vitor Belfort, after he threw down the gauntlet to the tune of $30 million.
After The Problem Child’s victory over Tyron Woodley, more MMA fighters have been wanting a piece of the spectacle that precedes a Paul fight. And Jake isn’t backing down from the constant attention he’s been attracting.
During an interview with The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the titular host got a message from The Phenom live during his interview with Paul.
“‘Tell my son to don’t run away. To meet his big daddy. There’s no way out. I got $30 million. Winner takes all,’” Helwani read Vitor’s message to Paul.
While the challenge was a surprise in the moment, Paul wasn’t about to back down from the live callout and met Vitor’s words in kind.
“Well put [the $30 million] in escrow,” Paul replied to Belfort’s challenge while hitting out at fighters talking down at him. “The notion that these MMA fighters think that I’m scared of them or that I’m running away is funny.”
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Still on the rise, Paul has so far had four wins since stepping into the ring.
The quality of his opponents had received its share of criticism, but his win against Woodley started to build on his fighting reputation.
“I am going back-to-back-to-back on these bitch ass MMA fighters,” Paul said. “Line them up, I will take all of them down. You guys cannot box.”
While this doesn’t mean that Belfort vs Paul has the greenlight, it does give The Problem Child a tantalizing target if he wants to secure his next opponent. He continued: “I outboxed a five-time UFC f**king champion (Woodley). Vitor Belfort didn’t even come close to that many championships. You guys cannot box for s**t.”
Paul has a few names that apparently want to step into the ring with him next, and it’ll be interesting who he ends up going toe-to-toe with after Woodley.
