After Jake Paul defeated Mike Perry, the first name he dropped on the microphone was his next test, Mike Tyson.
That didn’t come as a surprise. Paul has repeatedly voiced interest in certain matchups over the years. Tyson is one. Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz (again) are others.
But a new name came out of his mouth Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., when he called out UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
“I want everybody,” Paul said at a post-fight news conference. “I love this sport. He’s tweeted about wanting to go into boxing. We got him on the FaceTime right there in the ring. 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 a pause. He looked at his manager (Ed Soares). These guys aren’t their own bosses. I want all the smoke.”
While prospective matchups always get combat sports communities buzzing, the likelihood of the fight actually happening is low, admitted Paul.
Pereira is still under contract with the UFC, an organization that has shown zero interest in co-promotion of any kind.
“At the end of the day, will Dana (White) let him out?” Paul said. “That’s too big of a risk if I can embarrass his No. 1-praised fighter right now. But I want all the smoke. I want all the MMA guys. I’ve beaten all of them. And who’s next? He’s the king right now of the UFC. I want him. I want to decapitate him and dethrone him.”
Paul’s callout did not fall on deaf ears. He shared a FaceTime with Pereira and manager Ed Soares in the minutes following the bout. A video posted Sunday by Pereira shows Paul ask Pereira to fight, to which Pereira responded, ‘Let’s go.'” But even then, the contractual issue is acknowledged by Paul.
Taking Paul out of the picture, Pereira recently publicly displayed interest in boxing after a social media coaxing by Anthony Joshua.
“Just to be clear, it was Anthony Joshua who said Pereira should enter the boxing ring,” Most Valuable Promotions representative Nakisa Bidarian said at the same news conference Saturday. “Pereira said, ‘I’m honored. I’d love to. Who should I fight?’ When Jake saw that he said, ‘Hey, he should fight me.’ And we said, ‘Well, he signed to the UFC.’ And that was the basis of that discussion.”
Paul will fight 58-year-old Mike Tyson on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The fight was initially scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed due to a medical issue with Tyson.
Pereira does not currently have a fight on the books. He most recently competed at UFC 303 in June when he defeated Jiri Prochazka for the second time.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Paul vs. Perry.
