‘You have five days’: Jake Paul list of demands for shock UFC defection

Jake Paul has already shaken up the boxing world but the outspoken YouTuber has his eyes firmly on changing the UFC as well.

Jake Paul can do what he wants. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Say what you want about Jake Paul, the guy knows how to sell a fight.

The 24-year-old YouTuber-turned-prize-fighter has fought to sold out arenas for millions of dollars against the likes of YouTuber AnEsonGib, former NBA player Nate Robinson and ex-UFC fighters Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley — the later twice including last month’s KO in Miami.

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While Paul has been criticised for his fight selection and accused of fixing fights, he is no doubt a box office drawcard.

After last month’s shock KO of Woodley, Paul turned his attention to the rest of the UFC.

“(Jorge) Masvidal and Nate Diaz, you all are some b****es for leaving this arena,” he said.

“Because I know you don’t want that s**t.“I’ll take out both of y’all next. Just get out of your contract with Daddy Dana (UFC boss Dana White) and I’m going to f*** them up, too.

“I just knocked out a five-time UFC champion and embarrassed your whole company.

“Please, please let me get Kamaru Usman. Please let get Nate Diaz. Please let me get (Jorge) Masvidal. Please let me get (Conor) McGregor, because I’m going to embarrass them too. I promise you that Dana. I promise you that.”

What do you think about Paul fighting in the UFC Tyron? Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP

But Paul has doubled down to open the new year, issuing a challenge to UFC president Dana White that he’ll take on these stars on their own turf, assuming White makes a few changes.

“Happy new year @danawhite. Here is a real challenge for you …” he wrote.

“I will immediately retire from boxing and fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC if you agree to:

“1) Increase min fighter pay per fight to $50k (it’s $12k now)

“2) Guarantee UFC fighters 50 per cent of UFC annual revenues ($1bn in 2021)

“3) Provide long term healthcare to all fighters (you previously said brain damage is part of the gig … imagine the NFL said that). There are many UFC alums who have publicly said they are suffering from brain damage

“You have 5 days to accept and to implement the above by March 31, 2022. Once implemented I will immediately retire from boxing, enter USADA and agree to a 1 fight deal with UFC to fight weak chin Jorge.

“To all UFC fighter – time to take a stand and create value for yourselves and your peers. You deserve higher pay, you deserve long term health and above all you deserve freedom. Support each other. I am not your enemy. I am your advocate … who selfishly wants to KO a few of you to make some big bank.”

Happy new year @danawhite. Here is a real challenge for you…

I will immediately retire from boxing and fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC if you agree to: pic.twitter.com/bJScDVITvL

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) January 1, 2022

Pay has long been a contentious issue in the UFC and fighters have long been outspoken on the issue as well as talking about setting up a fighter’s union.

‘Too stupid’: UFC boss slaps down Jake Paul ultimatum

But White has hit back at Paul, tweeting out a response, calling for Paul to get randomly drug tested for steroids over the next two years.

It comes after Paul accused White of doing cocaine, and the UFC boss agreeing, as long as Paul will get tested for performance enhancing drugs.

“I’ve got a challenge for Jake Paul,” White told Teddy Atlas. “This guy keeps saying that I’m a coke head. He can randomly cocaine test me for the next 10 years if I can randomly steroid test him for the next two.”

But after his latest call out, White responded again on Twitter and said “you never responded to the challenge”.

.@jakepaul you never responded to the challenge pic.twitter.com/1uzI9mur1T

— danawhite (@danawhite) January 2, 2022

“You publicly stated that I use cocaine — I do not,” White said. “So told you that you could randomly cocaine test me for the next 10 years. I believe that you’re a cheater and I believe that you use steroids so I want to randomly steroid test you for the next two years.”

As for the list of demands, White said “no one on Earth believes you really wrote that, you’re too stupid”.

“B**** boy can’t afford the big boys. Never again do I want to hear my name associated with the fake.” Masvidal said of Paul's reported 65,000 PPVs for the second Woodley fight. Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images/AFP

Roping in Paul's manager who White called “a scumbag”, he issued a challenge.

“If you two think that you can do it better than we do, we’re doing this whole thing wrong, you can treat the fighters better than we do, knock yourself out,” White said. “Go start your own business, it’s easy to do. Get the warlock (Paul’s manager) on it, the warlock can get it started for you.

“What you and the warlock should be focused on is your own business. You’re tanking, you can’t sell pay-per views. You’re calling out Jorge Masvidal because he’s a pay-per view superstar. Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Mike Tyson, these are all superstars, you’re not. You can’t sell pay-per views so you do whatever the hell you want to do.”

The Paul-Woodley rematch only sold a reported 65,000 PPVs, but it was a rematch only because Tommy Fury pulled out of the fight with a bacterial chest infection. And reports are it doesn’t factor in digital buys.

But his first fight with Woodley had a reported 500,000 buys and his first round KO of Ben Askren had a reported 1.5m.

Jake Paul is doing it right. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

But while Jake Paul rakes in millions for his fights and UFC fighters all fight over $50,000 performance or fight bonuses at each UFC event, former UFC contender Chael Sonnen slammed his critics.

“’He should fight a boxer’, that’s a quote,” Sonnen said. “That is a quote said by everybody that wants to bury Paul.

“Not one goddamn person has said a name. And the reason is, you don’t know them.

“Boxing has done a terrible job. Boxers do a terrible job with the self-promotion. They look at Paul and they are jealous instead of looking at Paul and going, ‘Oh my goodness, this is what I need to do. This is what I should be doing.’

“Cause we can just keep throwing out the term, ‘a boxer’, we can say it till we’re blue in the face or we can tell the truth. We don’t know who they are.”

Originally published as ‘You have five days’: Jake Paul list of demands for shock UFC defection