Jake Paul cancelled his upcoming fight with Hasim Rahman Jr. Afterwards he went on social media and tried to convince the people that it is because his opponent did not make weight. But, the public is not so naive now. Dana White as well. It is suspected that the real reason is completely different from what Jake claims.
Dana White got a question about Jake Paul’s boxing match and answered honestly what he thinks is the issue behind the cancellation. He says that the pay-per-view buys are a way bigger problem here than anything else involving the fighters. According to him, the weight wouldn’t have been a problem if the PPV buys were looking good.
Dana White Suspects Jake Paul’s Fight Got Cancelled Because There Were No Pay Per View Buys
“I think they sold under a million dollars in tickets, and it costs $500,000 to turn the f***ing lights on at MSG.” – Dana White says at the UFC 277 post-fight press conference. “That’s what I think.” “Not to mention hotel rooms in New York and transportation and everything else is very expensive.”
Jake Paul was supposed to fight Hasim Rahman on August 6th after his originally set opponent Tommy Fury pulled out of the fight. Allegedly, the UK professional boxer did not have clearance to travel to the USA. He faced VISA problems due to his alleged connection to a famous crime boss in the UK.
Jake Paul then rescheduled the fight to take place at the Madison Square Garden in New York against the son of the ex-Champion Hasim Rahman. However, according to Jake Paul, due to the weight difference, the match couldn’t take place. Rahman Jr has allegedly denied going down to 205lbs and that was a deal breaker for Jake.
Initially, the match should have taken place at 200lbs. Then Jake showed big-heartedness and ‘allowed’ him to come to the fight at 205lbs. However, Hasim Rahman Jr. Did not comply with this as well and wanted to fight at 215lbs. Due to this, Jake Paul decided to cancel the bout.
Whatever the reason, according to Dana White it is a pity that the fight will not take place. He is not happy when someone puts effort, money and his guts into something and that something doesn’t play out as planned.
“I’m not going to sit up here and be happy or gloat that their fight fell out.” – White says.” Both those guys I’m sure put in a lot of hard work and a lot of training to get ready for this fight, spent money to get ready for this fight.”
Dana White and Jake Paul obviously do not get along very well. However, he showed sportsmanship and didn’t take a direct shot at Jake Paul last Saturday. Instead, he criticised his poor choice of business associates.
“I will say this, just because you were an accountant here doesn’t mean you know what the f*** goes on here.” – White references Nakisa Bidarian, Jake’s business partner who previously was part of the UFC as a Chief Financial Officer. “It doesn’t mean you can run a fight promotion company.”
Jake Paul took Nakisa Budarian as a business partner and an advisor to the company he started – Most Valuable Promotions. Now they co-own the company and manage women’s boxing champion, Amanda Serrano, among other less known boxers.
The fight against Hasim Rahman Jr will not happen. That is for sure. Dana White has some advice for Jake Paul about his fight career.
“I think that Jake Paul probably needs to get some different people around him.” – The UFC president says. “If he’s going to stay in the sport, he needs to be with guys that really know how to put on fights.”
