Dan Hardy concedes Jake Paul probably never going to fight MMA: ‘I don’t think so’
It’s been more than two years since Jake Paul signed a contract with the PFL to not only serve as an ambassador for the brand, but also to eventually transition into MMA to fight for the organization as well.
While Paul has continued to tease his interest in MMA, the now 28-year-old fighter seems more focused than ever on his boxing career after staging one of the most-watched events of 2024 with his showdown against Mike Tyson that aired on Netflix. Lately, Paul has taken aim at former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua and even reignited a feud with Tommy Fury — the only person to hand him a defeat in his boxing career — but mentions about him doing MMA have dwindled dramatically.
PFL analyst Dan Hardy, who once touted a potential fight between Paul and Nate Diaz as the perfect matchup to welcome the former social influencer into MMA, now admits that it seems less and less likely that “The Problem Child” — or more recently “El Gallo” — actually makes the move.
“Do we ever see him in MMA? I don’t think so,” Hardy told MMA Fighting. “I think he’s pretty focused on boxing.
“It’s a lot of work for him to cross over to mixed martial arts, and he’s not going to fight anybody that you’ve never heard of before. It’s going to have to be a decent name or otherwise people won’t watch it. Even old guys in MMA could still handle business, I think, with Jake Paul.”
When he first became a professional boxer, Paul feasted on MMA fighters crossing over into that sport after he eradicated names like Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley before eventually scoring wins against Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz and Mike Perry.
To actually pull a reverse and take an MMA fight, Paul would almost certainly have to put boxing on hold for several months if not longer to fully focus on all of the weapons he would need to compete in a promotion like the PFL.
Making matters even tougher, Paul was nearing a deal to fight multi-division champion Canelo Alvarez before the rug got pulled out from under him when the Mexican-born boxer signed a last-minute deal to start fighting for Saudi Arabia royal advisor Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season instead.
In other words, Paul has his sights set on the biggest boxing matches possible right now.
While nothing is ever set in stone, Paul has seemingly set MMA to the side while he puts his full focus on his boxing career moving forward.
“I’m not seeing him making any moves in that direction, certainly from my perspective,” Hardy said. “He called out Anthony Joshua the other day did he not? He’s certainly making things interesting for the combat sports world.
“He’s definitely a disruptor. That’s the main purpose that he’s serving right now. He’s a benefit to the PFL in that regard as well.”