Jake Paul has been medically cleared to return to the boxing ring. Paul announced the news himself this week, and MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian followed with a victory lap, saying, “The ‘YouTuber’ never left boxing. He reinvigorated the sport.” The clearance closes the book on the broken jaw Paul suffered against Joshua, per Athlon Sports. The obvious follow-up is already being asked out loud, too. MMA Junkie and Yahoo Sports both ran with the question of whether Paul is at risk of breaking that jaw again. So far nobody has attached a doctor’s name or an actual risk estimate to it, so for now it’s a question that will follow him into whatever he books next.
The line for that booking formed almost instantly, and the loudest voice in it belongs to a sitting UFC champion. Sean Strickland, who won his second middleweight title with a split decision over the previously unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328, spent Wednesday on X openly flirting with walking away from the belt over money. “McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 seconds and they don’t want to pay us a fraction of it,” Strickland wrote, as quoted by MMA Fighting. He kept going: “Contemplating just going to 205, knocking out my contract and scrapping with Jake Paul. That sounds fun.”
He also took a shot at the reported $15 million Zuffa Boxing deal for Conor Benn, calling him “some lame boxer,” and told one fan he’d have no problem giving up the title for an easier cut at light heavyweight. It’s unclear how many fights remain on Strickland’s UFC contract, which matters a lot here, because Paul asked the same thing. Paul replied on X that he’d seen Strickland’s texts, asked whether he was actually out of contract, and told him to have his promoter call MVP.
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Paul then posted a callout list, framed as his wish list before he rests, that reads like a fantasy draft with no salary cap: Canelo Alvarez, Francis Ngannou, Conor McGregor in both boxing and MMA, Strickland, Darren Till, Ryan Garcia, KSI, Chris Eubank, Edgar Berlanga, Tom Aspinall, Deontay Wilder and Nate Diaz in MMA, capped with a world title and a tag of Bidarian. Paulo Costa wants a piece as well, telling Strickland on X that he’d sent him a message with a solution for the two of them.
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Meanwhile, the guy who actually wants Strickland’s belt is losing his patience. Nassourdine Imavov, riding a five-fight win streak and with a 2023 fight against Strickland already on his record, confronted the champ at the UFC Performance Institute in footage that surfaced Wednesday. Security kept them apart. Strickland brushed the whole scene off on Instagram as staged content.
My take: Strickland vs. Paul is the best money fight on that list that could plausibly happen, because Strickland is a real problem who talks like a pro wrestling heel and actually backs it up, and because he sounds legitimately done grinding for UFC checks. But Paul is coming off a broken jaw, and the first question every reporter will ask is whether he’s taking a soft landing or a real fight. Strickland would be the real fight. Strickland also wants it, and he’s been plenty clear that he’d like to beat Paul up. The only paperwork standing in the way is a UFC contract with an unknown number of fights left on it. Paul telling him to have his people call MVP puts the ball in Strickland’s court. If he really vacates, this goes from a Wednesday Twitter tantrum to a press conference I would clear my calendar for.
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