Jake Paul Teases Paying UFC Fighters To Stay Home

Jake Paul might just pay UFC Vegas 35 fighters to stay home, relax and watch Paul vs. Tyron Woodley.

Jake Paul likes the idea of paying off UFC Vegas 35’s roster to take the weekend off and watch his Showtime boxing match against former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley.

Paul vs. Woodley headlines a Showtime boxing pay-per-view (PPV) — also streaming on FITE — taking place inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Sun., Aug. 29. During a recent interview with MMAMania.com and SB Nation’s Combat Culture, Paul is pitched the idea of paying off fighters competing at UFC Vegas 35 and asking them to stay home. The UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sat., Aug 28.

“Hey, it’s not a bad idea. I might have to run with that. I mean, who knows how much they’re even getting paid. It might not even add up to that much.”

Paul made a splash in the boxing and mixed martial arts scenes by trolling fighters and adopting the role of Internet villain. Over time, however, he appears to be winning over a portion of the audience. He has publicly feuded with UFC President Dana White and Conor McGregor, advocated for better fighter pay and linked up with fan-favorite Dustin Poirier.

“There’s a lot of love,” Paul says. “It’s just easy to focus on the negative in the society we live in today. But people seem to forget the greatest boxer alive is one of my biggest fans, Mike Tyson. He supports me more than anything and I support him. I love the guy. He’s taught me so much. He’s given me so much wisdom and he gets it. He’s said this whole movement has saved the sport of boxing and everyone should be thanking us. He’s said it multiple times.

“There are other massive fighters: Evander Holyfield, the Charlo brothers, Ryan Garcia — these people are all big supporters. I think the fight fans and the fight community are starting to see what it is that I’m doing. Starting to respect it. Maybe they don’t love me, but at least they respect that, ‘Okay, I understand what’s going on here and this kid isn’t as bad as we think he is.’ But then there will be the people who are in denial and just want to see me lose, which I’m totally okay with.”

For the complete Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley fight card click here. For more news and notes on their upcoming grudge match click here.