There’s been a never-ending back-and-forth between Jake Paul and UFC president Dana White over the last few days. But now Bellator president Scott Coker has thrown himself into the mix.
Paul has been campaigning to fight in the UFC (with conditions) and White has thrown his own conditions out there.
Now, Coker has voiced his desire to sign Paul.
“If [Jake Paul wants] to come into MMA, we would gladly do it,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “Think about this: He’s not saying, ‘I’m going to go train here. I’m going to go train there.’ He’s going to come to one of the best gyms in the planet, where Khabib is, where Daniel Cormier is still training, where Cain Velasquez is teaching there now, and he’s going to go into an environment that he is going to flourish, and he has a wrestling background already. He has great striking, obviously. You’ve seen it, and so this guy is just going to get better and better and better. The days of him fighting basketball players or whatever, those days are over.”
Coker says he doesn’t think the signing would happen soon, based on what he hears Paul’s plans with boxing are.
“He wants to do it,” Coker said. “The only thing I will say is, my understanding is he wants to get 10 fights into boxing, and then after that come over to mixed martial arts. I know certain people feel a certain way, but I tell you, don’t underestimate these guys because when they have their minds made up, it just seems like that they’re able to fulfill their destiny, and so to me, it’s something that if they want to make it happen, we would love to do something with them and put them in some big fights and really test them out.”
Its unlikely Paul would come to Bellator without a major incentive but wilder things have happened where Paul is concerned.
Scott Coker says he would sign Jake Paul if given the chance