Brace yourselves, MMA fans: Logan Paul isn’t done with putting on combat sports events, and he might just try his hand at MMA sometime soon.
While Paul was criticized for the amount of clinching he did in his exhibition boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, the outspoken YouTube star didn’t hesitate when asked if he thought his skills might translate to an MMA cage.
“I was grabbing him, yeah,” Paul told reporters, including MMA Junkie, following the event at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. “I’d do MMA, for sure, because I am a good grappler. You know, I’m a wrestler at heart.”
While he’s best known for being an online entertainer, the 26-year-old Paul does have a history of wrestling at the high school level in Ohio. That’s more than can be said of his boxing background, and yet his popularity earned him the invitation to fight one of the sport’s all-time greats in Mayweather – and with a hefty paycheck attached, as well.
While he was clearly outgunned at Sunday’s event, which did not have judges to declare a winner, Paul said just stepping in the ring was an amazing experience – and not getting knocked out over the course of eight rounds, as many assumed he would, was especially rewarding.
“It’s tough,” Paul said. “You know, I knew if it went the distance I won, technically, but that wasn’t the gameplan. When you’re fighting a guy like Floyd – you know, the legend, the boxer – you’re kind of relying on him to to figure out the gameplan, then just playing off his. I think I got him with a good shot in that first round, which kind of threw him off a little bit. And I mean, yes, surviving against Floyd Mayweather, like, is great.
“He’s my second opponent. Floyd Mayweather, my second opponent. And so, yeah, I mean, I’m happy. It’s good. It was good fun.”
Where that good fun will take him next, Paul isn’t sure. Another boxing match? Professional wrestling? An MMA fight? Paul said he will explore all opportunities available but did make it clear: Combat sports isn’t done with him just yet.
“Anytime I can entertain, you know, I’m happy, whether it’s me getting in a boxing ring and risking my life, whether it’s me, you know, getting Stunnered in the WWE preparing for a match there,” Paul said. “A podcast – like, I just love entertaining. I just like making people happy, you know, with the stuff that I love doing and what I make and creating myself out of my life, and that’s that’s that’s my dream.
“Regardless of the performance that was put on tonight, you know, this is my third fight. … Like, let me get a little good, you know, and then for sure, yeah, I’ll be putting on prizefights. That’s the answer. I’m sure there’s a list of opponents on Twitter, people chirping, saying this, saying that. I’ll pick one. Make them f*cking get embarrassed. I don’t know. We’ll see.”