Are you kidding? Dana White is 'not gonna f***ing loan' a UFC fighter to box Jake Paul
UFC president Dana White also cast doubt on Jake Paul's TKO win over Ben Askren.
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UFC president Dana White refuses to get involved in the Jake Paul business.
Paul, who has become one of the most polarizing and talked about figures in combat sports, has called out UFC fighters such as Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, as well as taken shots at White over fighter pay, in recent times. He even made an appearance at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Fla., and caused some commotion when he got into a heated exchange with Daniel Cormier.
Though the YouTube star-turned-boxer knocked out ex-UFC welterweight and former Bellator and ONE Championship title holder Ben Askren in a boxing pay-per-view headliner, White doesn’t want any current UFC fighters getting involved with Paul.
“First of all, I would never do business with those guys, just no,” White told ESPN. “No, this is not what we do. I’m not gonna f***ing loan them a guy for f**ing what? There’s no way. You got plenty of f***ing goofballs out there that you can muster up to get in there and play these games that these guys are playing. Yeah, I’m not your guy.”
White, who says he prides himself in matching up the best fights, admits that Paul has done a good job of garnering interest. Even though it never went through, White said he was willing to bet $1 million dollars that Askren would beat Paul, and he’s still baffled at how Paul beat him.
“Listen, you cannot deny the fact that this kid has inserted himself into the conversation with real guys,” White said. “This guy has got three fights, and I gotta tell you that I don’t know if I truly believe the Ben Askren thing. I have a hard time wrapping by brain around that.
“Let’s see how long it takes before this kid’s 15 minutes are up, but they are being smart. They are keeping him away from anybody that could actually really do damage. I don’t know. The Ben Askren thing still blows my mind.”