Michael Bisping isn’t having it with Jake Paul and his team.
This past Friday, Paul faced two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a boxing match and, as expected, presented little threat to the far more experienced fighter before suffering a knockout loss in Round 6. Afterwards, Paul’s manager and Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian claimed it was only because of Joshua’s superior size that he defeated Paul
.On his YouTube channel, Bisping unequivocally shot down that notion.
“So Jake Paul lost because of the skill difference, not the size difference,” Bisping said. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to insult this guy, I’m not, but as a fighter, as a former fighter, as someone that’s very experienced in the world of mixed martial arts, and combat sports in general, this is a crazy shout.
“He lost because he was smaller. He lost because of the size difference. He also lost because he had no business being in there with him. Anthony Joshua is by far a better boxer.”
Joshua entered Friday with a 28-4 record, including duels with some of the best heavyweights of this generation, including Oleksandr Usyk, Wladimir Klitschko, and Daniel Dubois, among others. He was expected to run through Paul and though it took longer than expected due to Paul focusing on keeping his distance and repeatedly dropping to his knees when Joshua came close, Joshua eventually took care of business.
Bisping understands why Bidarian is standing by his friend, but thinks Bidarian’s analysis of the fight has no basis in reality.
“Of course, this guy’s his manager, so he’s going to spin it,” Bisping said. “But there’s a reason why we have managers. We have managers to protect us from ourselves. To say, ‘Hold on a minute. That’s crazy. Don’t box Anthony Joshua. You might leave in a coffin.’
“But this guy now afterwards is defending it still and saying he lost because he got tired. He did get tired and there was a lot of clinching, but the clinching was from Jake Paul, from him shooting, from him actually getting double underhooks, from him doing anything he could when Anthony Joshua moved forward to stop the punches being thrown. When you’re clinching, you can’t throw punches, and the referee should have got in there a lot quicker as well. But for this guy to be blaming it on the size only and not the skill is insane.”
Paul suffered a broken jaw from Joshua’s finishing punches and it’s unclear when he’ll fight again, much less against who. For Paul’s sake, Bisping hopes they find someone closer to Paul’s size, so that the YouTuber-turned-boxer at least has a fighting chance.
“Jake Paul’s made loads of money, he’s had lots of big, lucrative fights, and he probably will continue to have more, and I wish him the best of luck, I really do,” Bisping said. “Just box someone your own size. Not a ‘35er, not a super heavyweight, not a two-time world champion or a gold medalist at the Olympics. Fight a cruiserweight and fight someone up and coming, simple as that. And then everyone will give him a ton of respect.”
TOP STORIES
Someday. Ilia Topuria has strong words for Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Confidence. Manel Kape believe he can easily take the flyweight title from Joshua Van.
Off. Warner Bros. made the decision not to deal with Paramount, likely due to Paramount’s massive investment in UFC.
Stupid. Influencer Jack Doherty blames UFC legend Andrei Arlovski for the Paul vs. Joshua brawl.
VIDEO STEW
MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin talks to top UFC flyweight contender Manel Kape.
The Art of Violence with Justin Gaethje.
That’s so many knockouts.
More Paul vs. Joshua reactions.
This gotta be good.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
The definitive fight week schedule.
The best knockouts of the week.
Anthony Pettis reveals he caught a cameraman below the belt when he launched off the cage for his famous Showtime Kick.
We’ve all been there.
These guys don’t stop.
Neat!
Ouch.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Lance Palmer (wrestling); RAF 5, Jan. 10
FINAL THOUGHTS
EXIT POLL
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.
