Chael Sonnen wants boxing stars to earn a big fight with Jake Paul.

When Paul first made the transition from YouTube star to professional boxer, his first two bouts were against fellow influencer AnEsonGib and retired NBA player Nate Robinson. As his notoriety rose, Paul began to call out past-their-prime MMA stars, including Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren.

Now, coming off of a win over Mike Tyson that drew an eye-popping nine-figure viewership number on Netflix, Paul is as hot a commodity as any name in combat sports with several prominent names from the boxing world calling to fight him. On his YouTube channel, Sonnen claimed that these boxers were nowhere to be seen when Paul was just starting off.

“I’m asking do you want it or are you willing to do it?” Sonnen said. “Because there is a massive difference. How would we know? All of these boxers that have all of a sudden found their balls should be ashamed of themselves. Nobody should be calling out Jake Paul today that wasn’t willing to fight him prior to record numbers coming in.

“There’s nobody that should be willing to fight him today that dismissed him or turned down his callout for the last multiple years. But all of a sudden you found some courage and I don’t know that you have. As a matter of fact, you didn’t want to fight Jake back then when you didn’t know if he was any good. Now you know he’s really good, so why would you want to fight him?”

Paul improved to 11-1 with the Tyson win, though criticisms remain that he is yet to face any legitimate competition in the ring. Tyson recently turned 58 years old this year and looked slow and sluggish on fight night, while Paul’s other victories are mostly comprised of MMA fighters and a low-level journeymen boxers.

If seasoned veterans are serious about calling out Paul, Sonnen thinks the best way to determine Paul’s next opponent is via a tournament, a la The Ultimate Fighter.

“Let me offer you a suggestion: a tournament,” Sonnen said. “Winner gets Jake Paul. That is more captivating for me. To each his own. But I do have a belief system in telling you that when you do a tournament, that when you do an event that leads to an opportunity as opposed to a payout, that you get the audience’s attention more. It would be very difficult for me to quantify and to prove that, but I will share with you The Ultimate Fighter, which is possibly the toughest tournament in all of sports.

“The Ultimate Fighter made a promise way back on Day 1 and they say that it changed the industry. They say that it took three little letters of UFC from $40 million in debt to a thriving enterprise, that’s the way the story is told, and they put up a prize of The Ultimate Fighter of $100,000 [Editorial note: TUF winners are awarded a contract that could be worth six figures, not a flat prize] and that was supposed to be a really big deal. That was supposed to get headlines, but I submit for you I don’t believe that is what attracted to the audience was more compelled by the fact that the winner of said $100,000 would be in the UFC. I think that’s what was more interesting.”

Sonnen added that Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions could run the event and essentially position its star act as the pot at the end of the rainbow.

“I suggest for you, a tournament,” Sonnen said. “There’s some pretty big names. Carl Froch and Antonio [Tarver] and [David Benavidez] and a few other people that have all of a sudden jumped out of the hat. Ryan Garcia has jumped out and he’s going to fight Paul.

“I’m good with the whole thing if you really want it, and if you really want it I suggest that MVP get these names together that claim they want it and let’s do a tournament. Whoever wants, we don’t advertise a big cash prize, and get that big ridiculous check in there, and put a belt, diamond-encrusted, that we made up, we give them an actual incentive. We give them an actual reward and that reward is an opportunity and that opportunity is to do nothing more than what they’ve come out and they’re claiming it’s what they want. All I’m asking is that you eight guys get in a bracket and prove it.”

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