June 29, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Alex Pereira (red gloves) reacts after defeating Jiri Prochazka (blue gloves) during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Jake Paul says he’ll be the cruiserweight world champion in two years, but it looks like he has his eyes set on UFC champion Alex Pereira first.
After a six-round beating of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s Mike Perry, Paul called out Pereira, who is coming off a Brutal knockout victory over Jiri Prochazaka at UFC 303.
“Alex Pereria, you said you wanted to box, I’m the king of boxing, I’m the king of boxing, come here,” Paul said. “We can make it happen, I want you, Alex Pereria.
Moments after the call, Paul’s business partner and co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, Nakisa Bidarian, handed The Problem Child a phone with a FaceTime call from Pereira.
“Is Dana (White) going to let you out (of your UFC contract)?” Paul asked.
“We will talk to him,” Pereira said.
Paul then told Pereira that he was easy to beat and explained to UFC CEO Dana White that the bigger they were, the harder they fell. Then, the call was disconnected when Paul hung up and Pereira burst out laughing.
White is notoriously and publicly against Paul’s boxing circus. Every time Paul fights a former MMA fighter, he wins. According to reportsWhite offered Perry a new UFC contract if he could knock out Paul.
It’s clear that the UFC boss doesn’t like Paul, but letting one of the biggest stars in combat sports out of his contract seems highly unlikely. Perhaps Pereira saw an opportunity to have some fun with the call-up and immediately jumped at the chance to create some buzz.
Pereira just turned 37, and we know Paul’s affinity for fighting older MMA fighters. However, Poatan is at the top of his game. He’s on a four-fight winning streak, with his last loss coming in April 2023 to Israel Adesanya. He’s a former UFC middleweight champion and the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion.
White is currently trying to match Pereira with Jon Joneswho is the reigning UFC heavyweight champion. Even after Pereira’s dominance in recent years, White continues to publicly endorse Jones as the UFC’s best pound-for-pound fighter.
Paul’s next fight is set to take place on November 15 in Dallas. The long-awaited Netflix showdown against the legendary Mike Tyson could finally happen.
“Mike, I love you, but this is my sport now,” Paul said. “You’re a legend. You’re one of the two most famous boxers of all time. You and Muhammad Ali. It’s an honor to step in the ring with you. I’m so, so honored, you’re a legend.”
“But I will take your throne, brother.”
Taking on Tyson, 58, won’t get Paul any closer to his goal of becoming world champion. But it will make him a lot of money.
Fighting Pereira would probably make both men quite rich too. And that’s the whole point of this charade.
