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UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman believes he will consider a boxing match against YouTube star Jake Paul.
Usman (19-1) is less than two weeks removed from his fourth title defense at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida, where he knocked out Jorge Masvidal with a monstrous right hand in the second round. Usman was voted ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world the following week.
Usman said: “He’s starting to think he’s a fighter, and that’s the state we’re in. YouTube fighters picking fights with actual fighters. It’s a no-lose situation for them because if they go in and get beat up, they still make a lot of money. That kid is dangerously close to taking me to that violent place.
“He has no business mentioning my name in his mouth. And now he’s putting pictures of me and my family out, so it’s starting to slowly shift to that place where it could be a problem.
Paul wants the fight, calling out Usman on social media earlier last month:
Challenge accepted.@USMAN84kg if your boss Dana gives you permission to box me and make more money than you ever have, let me know and we can lace them up. I promise it will be your biggest pay day.
— GOTCHA HAT (@jakepaul) April 27, 2021
So let’s get this straight:
1. Usman calls me out to fight on TMZ sports interview
2. I quickly accept the challenge to fight and will give him biggest pay day of career ($10m+)
3. Usman then backs out of fight because I’m “a Disney kid”
4. Usman visits Disney world pic.twitter.com/CkUBZ5aVYM
— GOTCHA HAT (@jakepaul) April 28, 2021