Johnson Rips Paul: ‘Do F—king Mixed Martial Arts’

Demetrious Johnson has supported Jake Paul’s boxing career in the past, but the former UFC champion is now imploring the social media star to take a chance in mixed martial arts (MMA).

Johnson, who meets Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a special rules bout at ONE X this weekend, is widely regarded as one of the best MMA fighters of the past decade. Before his transition to ONE Championship “Mighty Mouse” absolutely decimated the competition inside of the Octagon and nearly collapsed the UFC flyweight division in the process.

Like many MMA fighters Johnson has a unique take on Paul’s rise to combat stardom and what he’s been doing inside of the boxing ring. Johnson has gone on record saying that he supports Paul because he trains like a “full-time athlete,” but now “Mighty Mouse” is hoping that Paul decides to make the switch over to the cage.

“If Jake Paul thinks he’s so f—king bad at boxing and all that stuff, hats off,” Johnson told MMA Junkie. “You’re 3-0, 4-0 as a boxer. Do f—king mixed martial arts. I did an interview the other day and I was like, ‘Everybody is worried about fighting this person, let’s see how much money I can make from this person.’ I was like, ‘Just do mixed martial arts.’ You think you’re that great, just do it. If I thought I was a badass boxer, I would be like, ‘Let me just box.’ Even when they offered this fight to me, it’s Rodtang. I was like, ‘I’ll fight in muay Thai.’”

“I don’t give a f—k. What’s the worst thing that could happen? I get knocked out? OK. I go back home, train, get ready for the next one. If I win, what’s gonna happen? I go home, go get ready for the next one. So, for me, I could say I did it, I tried. As you get older, you find that you don’t knock people for trying. For me, when someone is like, ‘Ah blah, blah, blah, you MMA guys suck.’ It’s like, ‘Then come do it.’ If you’re successful, good job. You lose, you tried it.”

Paul, who is 5-0 in his professional boxing career, is coming off a massive knockout finish over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley this past December (watch HERE). The social media star has already hinted at a potential crossover into MMA, but it seems like Paul will continue boxing for now.

In fact, “Problem Child” announced his expected return to boxing early Friday.