UFC commentator and former middleweight champion Michael Bisping believes Jake Paul’s most recent push into the world of MMA might be “smoke and mirrors”. Specifically, Bisping cited Paul’s public callout of Nate Diaz to come fight him under MMA rules in the PFL promotion on his YouTube channel.
Bisping especially took issue with Paul’s habit of hand-picking smaller opponents and cherry-picking the rules under which he can face them.
Bisping: Jake Paul’s Nate Diaz Callout is All “Smoke and Mirrors”
“It’s the same old story, isn’t it? Same old story because Nate Diaz fought almost all of his fights at 155 and a few at 170, but he’s a lightweight generally. He’s a lightweight. Jake Paul weighs over 200 pounds and I’ve been through this, it’s every single time I talk about it.
He’s bigger, he’s stronger, he’s faster, he’s a boxer, and he wants to go first because he’ll probably knock Nate Diaz out or beat him in the very least in a boxing fight.”
Regardless, Bisping is of the opinion that Paul’s choice of opponent in Nate Diaz is about driving pay-per-view numbers, not attaining sporting legitimacy.
“Now, Nate Diaz, he’s a decent boxer, he’s as tough as they come, he’s got great jiu-jitsu, but he’s not known for being the best wrestler. So maybe, could he take Jake Paul down? Is Nate Diaz at the end of his career? This is all smoke and mirrors. This is all just Jake Paul trying to navigate the waters of how he can continue to make money. He can’t do it in boxing because in boxing if he’s going to have a big boxing fight, it has to be against a real boxer and a real boxer would more than likely beat him, which is not what they want.
He can’t continue calling up former UFC legends that are retired because that’s not doing it anymore either. Yeah, he’s winning the fights, God bless him, fair play to him there. Solid win over Anderson, whether or not he’s old, he’s still Anderson Silva, and he beat Tyron Woodley twice. Before that it was Ben Askren, who’s a wrestler, then it was a basketballer.
The point I’m making is he’s never fought a boxer, but even still, these former UFC legends, they’re not pulling in the pay-per-view numbers. So now he’s going to have to fight mixed martial arts, which on paper makes it sound like Jake Paul is doing the right thing. He’s being courageous, he’s willing to switch sports. But he’s not. It’s going to be hand-picked opponents.
Nate Diaz in a boxing match first that’ll be co-promoted by the PFL. And then mixed martial arts, again, yeah Nate Diaz is the better mixed martial artist for sure, but size is a real thing.”
Is Bisping right about Jake Paul? Let us know in the comments.
