With Showtime move, Jake Paul and Bellator could be natural fit

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Ever since Jake Paul became a thing in combat sports, Bellator president Scott Coker hasn’t shied away from saying he’s willing to work with the YouTuber-turned-professional boxer. Now it might just be a real possibility.

Earlier this week, ESPN reported that Paul has signed a multifight deal to have his boxing matches promoted by Showtime Sports, which also airs Bellator events. Could that make Paul and Bellator potentially natural future business partners, too?

“It’s a different landscape now. We love Jake Paul,” Coker told MMA Junkie on Thursday ahead of Bellator 259. “He’s a talented athlete. I always said, like, this guy was a high school all-star wrestler in Ohio, big wrestling state. Physical. Boxing’s getting better and better and better. (He’s) an amazing athlete. (He is) going to be a threat.

“When you start fighting the Ben Askrens of the world, or even some of our guys that are mainly jiu-jitsu guys, it’s going to be a problem for them, because this guy can really bring it, as you saw with Ben.”

Paul, coming off a scintillating first-round TKO of Ben Askren last month under the Triller Fight Club banner, is just 3-0, but he’s set the combat sports world ablaze with his antics – and that’s included a feud with a notable member of Bellator’s roster in Dillon Danis.

Danis – not Askren – was Paul’s first choice for his most recent fight, but the two sides couldn’t agree on timing while Danis is recovering from major knee surgery. Prior to Paul’s signing with Showtime, Coker’s stance was that he’d be willing to let a Bellator fighter box Paul if Paul would also compete in an MMA fight.

Perhaps that condition has changed.

“To me, look, the landscape has definitely changed,” Coker said. “We love Jake Paul, and we look forward to having him fight on Showtime.”