Yardbarker
x
Jake Paul’s PFL Debut Expected Next Year – ‘It’ll Be The Biggest MMA Debut Ever’

Pete Murray, the PFL CEO, believes Jake Paul will make his MMA debut under the organization next year. 

Paul signed with the PFL in January 2023. Since then, he has continued to pursue his boxing. He is currently on a three-fight win streak, having beaten Nate Diaz, Andre August and Ryan Bourland. That was the perfect response, having lost to Tommy Fury. He will now put his reputation on the line by boxing Mike Tyson on July 20. It is a pro fight scheduled for eight rounds. The rounds are two minutes each, as both boxers will wear 14-ounce gloves.

Paul has everything to lose. Losing to a 58-year-old man would damage his world title aspirations in boxing. It would also harm his PFL ambitions. There are safety concerns for both men. Tyson will be 58 at the time of the fight against Paul, who is 28. The significant age gap and the walk-around weight could play a part in the proceedings. 

However, after beating Diaz, Paul offered Nate a $10 million offer to fight him in the PFL. The offer was not taken up. The same offer was made to Jorge Masvidal but to no success. While there has been a hold-up over Paul’s MMA debut, Murray expects that to be resolved soon. 

Murray On Paul

“That’s more of a 2025 scenario. We’re looking forward to dialing that in with Jake and his partner Nakisa (Bidarian). In this scenario, once again, no shortage of major, major MMA top fighters that want to step into the cage with Jake – including Nate. That would be an exciting fight. There are others that are lining up – Masvidal, and there’s more.

“We have options. Jake has options. We’re excited about it, but he’s continuing to focus on boxing right now. He’s got a big event coming up on Netflix against ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson in the boxing ring, so that’ll be captivating. Following that, we’ll see what’s next for Jake. But 2025 is definitely where he and his team are setting their sights (for MMA),” Murray said

Based on how Jake has operated towards his boxing, there is a chance that he fights retired MMA fighters. Paul could face a whole host of MMA fighters who have retired previously. He has boxed Tyron Woodley, Diaz and Ben Askren. If Diaz fails to take the offer again, fights with Woodley and Askren could happen. Woodley has not fought since losing to Vicente Luque at UFC 260 in 2021. As for Askren, his last bout was a loss to Demian Maia in 2019. Both will likely be interested since Paul beat them in their boxing bouts. Based on Murray’s following comments, it will be a stellar name. 

“Jake is committed to fighting major talent in MMA. We already talked about a couple other names under consideration. It’ll be a big name, and it’ll be the biggest MMA debut ever in the sport,” Murray stated 

This article first appeared on BoxingNews.com and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.