Jake Paul has been medically cleared to fight again after recovering from an injury, according to a Mediatakeout report published Monday, Oct. 12. The report did not lay out the nature of the injury, how long the rehab took or when Paul plans to step back in, so treat this as a green light with no date attached yet.
The timing is convenient. Last week Paul laid out a hit list for the rest of his career, and MMA Mania’s roundup of Friday, Oct. 9, listed three names on it: Canelo Alvarez, Francis Ngannou and Conor McGregor. That is a boxing champion, a former UFC heavyweight champ and the sport’s biggest pay-per-view draw, and none of them has publicly accepted anything as of this writing.
The louder response came from a guy currently holding UFC gold. Sean Strickland, who regained the middleweight title by edging Khamzat Chimaev after finishing Anthony Hernandez, has spent weeks complaining about his pay in negotiations for a defense against Nassourdine Imavov. On Oct. 7 he floated a wild exit plan on X: “Contemplating just going to 205 knocking out my contract and scrapping with @jakepaul That sounds fun.” Two days later he doubled down, writing, “I will not fight or sign any contract until I get this figured out,” as MMA Fighting reported.
View post on X
Jorge Masvidal took Strickland’s side in a clip shared by Home of Fight, pointing at the UFC’s revenue and saying, “It shouldn’t even be an option to go box Jake f*cking Paul.” MMA Mania also noted that Masvidal’s spot on the UFC’s Deep Waters show appears to be in jeopardy.
Other MMA names have piled on. Darren Till, responding in the wake of Paul’s list, posted on X: “Stop talking shite I would flat line you inside of 5.” Paulo Costa reacted to a viral clip of Paul hitting a heavy bag with a large snake wrapped around it, writing that he had boxed with Logan Paul years ago and adding, “it wasn’t a real fight.” Costa then asked his followers whether Jake is better than his brother. Spinnin Backfist’s reaction to the snake video was simpler: “Why though?” Fair question, and nobody has answered it.
View post on X
Paul has also been busy on the promoter side of the ropes. Most Valuable Promotions posted Sunday that after Lucas Bahdi and Floyd Schofield went to war, Paul praised both men’s heart and said he wants to see the rematch down the line.
My take: the clearance matters less than the opponent, and Strickland is the only name in this mess who has actually said he’d take the fight. Even so, I’d much rather see him defend the belt against Imavov at 185 than move up to 205 to spend his contract on a boxing detour. Masvidal is right about the pay, and the fix should come in a UFC contract, with Strickland back in the octagon. Until Paul’s team announces an opponent and a date, Strickland vs. Imavov stays the most important fight anyone named in this story could take.
View post on X
