With Gervonta “Tank” Davis out of a big Netflix fight against Jake Paul, “The Problem Child” is looking far and wide for a new opponent to compete against. Hanging in the balance is a lucrative payday
from the streaming network, and the wrong choice could lead to dud viewership that might cut Paul off from future eight figure Netflix paydays.
There’s no shortage of big names out there that Paul would like to face. Actually getting someone to agree to a fight is more difficult. In a new interview with ESPN, Paul lists off a wish list of potential opponents like Terence “Bud” Crawford, Canelo Alvarez, KSI, and Anthony Joshua. On the MMA side of things, Paul is done chasing Conor McGregor and is now aiming his sights at UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
“His team is down,” Paul claimed to ESPN. “I think the only thing preventing it is the UFC and if these guys can get out of their contracts to fight me. It would be a massive fight at some point, and I know he’s down to make it happen. People are telling me to fight someone my own size. OK, how about I fight somebody who is bigger than me? His size makes him a tougher challenge than Crawford.”
“That’s the most dangerous fight for me right now.”
It’s also one of the most unlikely. Saying the UFC is the only thing preventing you from fighting Pereira is like saying the only thing preventing you from going to Mars is the distance. The UFC isn’t in the business of lending out its superstars, and even Conor McGregor had to fight tooth and nail (and reportedly give up 50% of his purse to the promotion) for the privilege of fighting Floyd Mayweather.
Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian suggested UFC’s refusal to let Pereira fight Paul was an indicator of UFC CEO Dana White’s fear Jake might win.
“I think many would dismiss it and say Pereira would kill Jake Paul,” Bidarian said. “But somebody should ask Dana White and see what he says. If Dana White ever actually felt comfortable that one of his martial artists could beat Jake Paul, he would 100 percent endorse it because no matter what Dana may say, there’d be nothing he would enjoy more than seeing Jake Paul lose.”
That’s not exactly correct. What he’d enjoy doing more is sticking it to Paul and Bidarian on the business side by denying them the attention and profits that would come via a Paul vs. Pereira fight. Pereira is on track to make the UFC a ton of money in 2026. They don’t need to muddy the waters by including Paul in any of their plans.
So we’d place the chances of this coming together as somewhere between the 0% to 1% region, leaning way closer to zero.
