If Dana White had his druthers, he’d never hear Jake Paul’s name again.
Despite his best efforts, the UFC president can rarely avoid questions about Paul, especially with the way the YouTube celebrity turned boxer constantly jabs at White through interviews and social media.
The media circus surrounding Paul has only heated up with his next fight booked against Hasim Rahman Jr. in August, which has resulted in him frequently taking aim at White and the UFC’s business practices as far as its fighters are concerned.
Regardless of what’s been said, it doesn’t appear White has been paying too much attention.
“Is this still a thing?” White said when asked about Paul at the UFC Long Island post-fight press conference. “It isn’t to me. I could care less. He’s a pay-per-view turd.”
Beyond his feelings about Paul personally, White has often critiqued Paul’s fighting career, which has seen the YouTuber amass an undefeated record with wins over the likes of former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren, and ex-NBA player Nate Robinson without ever facing an established boxer.
That will change in his next fight as Paul is set to clash with Hasim Rahman Jr., who boasts a 12-1 career record but just suffered his first loss after falling to Kenzie Morrison by fifth-round knockout in April.
White couldn’t help but wonder why Paul sought out Rahman rather than the man who just beat him, but then again, he didn’t exactly sound surprised.
“I saw he just got knocked out by Tommy Morrison’s son,” White said about Rahman Jr. “He just got knocked out. Why wouldn’t you go after the guy that knocked him out?
“That’s not the business I’m in. I’m in a different business than that. I’m in the tough fight business.”
Considering his feelings towards Paul and his drawing power, White didn’t hold back when addressing the upcoming fight against Rahman Jr. being promoted as a pay-per-view by Showtime.
Originally, Paul was scheduled to face Tommy Fury in what was being billed as a grudge match between rivals, but the new matchup doesn’t seem to carry nearly as much interest.
While Paul and Rahman Jr. did spar previously, the heat between them doesn’t seem to be as great as when Fury was involved, but White still expected the fight to get pushed on pay-per-view because other options in boxing don’t seem plentiful right now.
Of course, White also took a shot at Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza, who he has remained at odds with ever since co-promoting the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor card together in 2017.
“That sounds like something the weasel would do,” White said about Espinoza putting Paul vs. Rahman Jr. on pay-per-view. “To be honest with you, when you think about it, you’ve got Tyson Fury, he can’t get out of the country. Whatever else is going on in boxing?
“What else do they have going on? What else do they have? I don’t know why they would do that again, but yeah.”
More than anything, White would prefer just to never hear Paul’s name again, because that only seems to add more fuel to a fire he’d prefer to get choked out due to a lack of oxygen.
“I know you guys like to ask me this stupid s***, but this is not what I do,” White said. “I’m at the point, all this stuff going back and forth, it’s silly for me to even f****** talk about it.”
Paul responded to White’s comments about himself and Nate Diaz on Saturday night.
Dana The Turd White degrades Nate Diaz to the media & then in private gets on his knees begging Nate to stay so they can try & revive Conor McGregor. Get on your knees & beg you old fuck. https://t.co/fU8UIW2x5T
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 17, 2022