Jake Paul challenges UFC champion after revealing three options for next fights
Paul called out light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira following a sixth-round stoppage over another former UFC fighter in Mike Perry
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Your support makes all the difference.Jake Paul has challenged UFC champion Alex Pereira to a boxing match after stopping Mike Perry in six rounds.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer remained busy in the ring after Mike Tyson pulled out of their scheduled fight due to a health scare, proving too fast and powerful for the former UFC fighter.
And in the immediate aftermath of the fight, Paul took the opportunity to reach out to the current light heavyweight king in the octagon, after recent remarks about a potential spell in boxing.
Paul said: “Alex Pereira, you said you want to box, I’m the king of this, come over, we can make this happen.
“Indeed [I am serious], I’ve beaten multiple UFC champions, he said he wants to box.”
Paul confirmed there is a new date to fight Tyson on 15 November, but also added a third option in his near future, with a rematch against Perry, although this time it would be under a new set of rules: either bare knuckle or MMA.
“It’d be fun [to fight Perry in a bare knuckle fight], I’d be down for it,” Paul added. “I love combat and going to war, in two years I will be the cruiserweight champion of the world.
“I’m way sharper, cleaner, he hit me with one good shot. Everybody said he would knock me out.”
Anthony Joshua tipped Pereira to move to boxing earlier this month, with ‘Poatan’ confirming his intent: “I’m honored you think so. It’s always been my dream, I’m 37, I cannot make a career in it so who do you recommend I fight?”
Joshua then insisted, “the options are endless champ,” having fought former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou earlier this year, showcasing the potential for MMA fighters to make the transition.
The Brazilian remains under contract with the UFC though, with Dana White’s history suggesting he is reluctant to allow his fighters to feature away from the promotion.
Pereira appeared keen on the fight and the prospect of a huge payday, with cameras on DAZN spotting him FaceTiming Paul in the ring.
Pereira impressed Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang in a recent sparring session, praising the experience in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
“We sparred once [for] 4 rounds, so that day it was 12 rounds for me, and I had two guys before Alex went in the ring,” Zhang said. “He’s [Alex Pereira] a good boxer.
“I can tell you he has good reflections; he has good speed and good power. I watch him fight a lot, in UFC, he kind of dominates everybody standing, and striking.”
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