UFC president Dana White is in the fight business – but not the Jake Paul fight business.
Despite the YouTube star’s recent calls for a fight against Conor McGregor, White remains uninterested. He isn’t thrilled with the product that Jake and his brother, Logan Paul, put forth and seemingly doesn’t want to be associated, though he recognizes there has been an audience.
“The answer to that question is, who gives a (expletive)?” White said, when asked about the Paul Brothers on the “SHOUT!” Buffalo podcast on Wednesday. “Neither one of those guys can fight. It’s all a big gimmick. Like I said in a (recent) press conference, there’s a market for that. If people are dumb enough to spend their money watching that (expletive), I don’t know what to tell you. Good luck to them. I (couldn’t) care less what that guy (does). I get it. He’s trying to make some money and is doing his thing. There are people who want to spend money on that. I’m not that guy.”
White took exception with Paul’s recent callouts and comments about MMA fighters, inviting them into the world of boxing. Paul is currently 2-0 in the ring, a resume that includes wins over former NBA star and slam dunk contest champion Nate Robinson, as well as fellow YouTuber Ali Eson Gib.
“Amanda Nunes will knock that kid out,” White said. “To even think about that guy fighting, he’s like, ‘I’m never going to fight a woman.’ You shouldn’t. You shouldn’t because she’ll put you in a coma. That guy is just some kid off the street. One of the big problems with him right now, he’s lucky there’s a pandemic. He’s talking smack about real people – real people that he could run into at a restaurant some night and things like that. This isn’t a real guy. This is just some kid on YouTube.”
Recent callouts from Paul have included personal attacks on McGregor and White, as well as impersonations of Ben Askren, Michael Bisping, and Nate Diaz. In addition, Paul pelted Bellator welterweight Dillon Danis with trash in a drive-by attack earlier this month – which he filmed. The video was later released on social media.