LOS ANGELES – Jake Paul is out to prove UFC fighters’ striking game is not up to par.
Paul will face his second straight ex-UFC fighter when he takes on Tyron Woodley in an eight-round, 190-pound catchweight boxing match Aug. 29 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
After making quick work of Ben Askren in April with a first-round TKO, Paul aims to show MMA striking is a lot different than boxing.
“I think I’m exposing the UFC a bit with their striking capabilities,” Paul told reporters following a Tuesday news conference in Los Angeles. “He’s fought the ‘best in the world’ in the UFC, but that’s not boxing. People think they’re very similar sports, which they kind of are. But it’s really relating swimming to basketball. It’s two very different things.
“Boxers are more efficient, more precise, more conservative with their energy, scoring points. It’s just a completely different ballgame, and a lot of people don’t really understand that. They just take it at face value, which is, ‘This is a fight.’ It’s not that. He’s coming into my territory, and as crazy as it sounds, I’m a much better boxer than him – even though he’s been doing it for five times as long.”
Paul is oozing confidence despite taking on a former UFC welterweight champion who has used his hands to spark the likes of Jay Hieron, Josh Koscheck and Robbie Lawler.
“Yes, he’s fought Kamaru Usman. Yes, he’s fought Gilbert Burns. But that’s not Jake Paul,” Paul said. “I will finish him, unlike those guys, and then people are going to come back and watch this interview and be like, ‘Holy sh*t, this kid is crazy. He predicted the future, and what the f*ck is going on? What the f*ck is in the milk in Ohio?”
Jake Paul says Tyron Woodley is coming to his territory, plans on ‘exposing the UFC’ striking
