Jake Paul has a showdown looming against Mike Tyson in November, but afterward he’s already set his sights on a matchup against UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
The unexpected callout came after Paul dismantled and finished Mike Perry in the sixth round of their boxing match on Saturday night in Tampa, Fla.
“Alex Pereira, you said you want to box, I’m the king of this,” Paul shouted from the ring. “Come over, we can make it happen. I want you Alex Pereira. I just beat a BKFC champion. I beat multiple UFC champions. He said he wants to box. Alex Pereira, after Mike Tyson, let’s make it happen.”
While he was still standing in the ring, Paul actually connected with Pereira over a Facetime call, where he asked the Brazilian and his manager if Pereira could get out of contract with the UFC to make his bit of fantasy matchmaking become a reality.
It’s highly doubtful the UFC would cut up Pereira’s contract just so he could go fight Paul, but the 27-year-old social influencer-turned-boxing enthusiast insisted that he’s serious about the matchup.
Paul explained the genesis behind the callout at his post-fight press conference, which actually started after Anthony Joshua suggested that Pereira make the transition from MMA into boxing in the future.
“I want everybody,” Paul said. “I love this sport. He’s tweeted about wanting to go into boxing. We got him on the Facetime right there in the ring and I said, ‘Yo, can you get out of your contract?’ If he can get out of his contract, then let’s run it. When I asked him that, he had to pause. He looked at his manager.
“These guys aren’t their own bosses. I want all the smoke, but at the end of the day, will Dana [White] let him out? That’s too bit of a risk if I could embarrass his No. 1 most praised fighter right now.”
Pereira actually posted his side of the in-ring Facetime call, but the sideways look toward his manager probably wasn’t about the UFC CEO giving him permission to pursue the boxing match. It’s much more likely that Pereira was trying to better understand what Paul said, because he doesn’t speak much English.
Regardless, Paul doubled down on his callout as Pereira sits near the top of MMA’s pound-for-pound rankings following consecutive knockouts of Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka.
“I want all the smoke,” Paul said. “I want all the MMA guys and I’ve beaten all of them. Who’s next? He’s the king of the UFC right now, so I want him. I’m going to decapitate him and dethrone him.”
In his response to Paul on Instagram, Pereira clearly didn’t blink at the callout. He answered with the same terrifying enthusiasm he shows anyone asking for a fight against him.
“Let’s go,” Pereira said. “Chama.”
