Getty Dana White & Jake Paul
During the UFC 261 post-fight press conference on Saturday night, Dana White was asked about YouTube star and boxer Jake Paul. “The Problem Child” has thrust himself into the combat sports world, challenging multiple UFC and MMA stars including Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.
Paul claims the UFC president owes him $1 million for his TKO boxing victory over former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren last weekend. White maintains that he never placed a bet with Paul.
What should I buy with @danawhite’s $1m?
I’m thinking a Porsche 918 Spyder🧐
The Problem Child attended UFC 261 and even got into a verbal altercation with former UFC double-champ Daniel Cormier. At one point, the fans at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, chanted “F*** Jake Paul.”
“Listen, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this kid’s done a good job of putting himself in a place to make some money,” White told the media at the UFC 261 post-fight press conference. “Good for him. He’s got you guys talking about him all the time and asking questions about him. You’ve got Daniel Cormier running after him so, he’s doing something right.”
“He knocked out an NBA guy that was 40 years old and 30 pounds less than him. I don’t even know what to think about the Askren thing. The whole thing is f****** mindboggling to me, but hey, good for him. Grab that money while you can, kid.”
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White Said Paul Is ‘Full of S***’ About His 1.5 Million Pay-Per-View Claim
Paul’s Triller Fight Club boxing match against Askren last weekend generated 1.5 million pay-per-view buys, according to The Problem Child. White was then asked if he would do business with Paul because “the numbers are there.”
“The numbers are there?” White questioned. “I don’t know if the numbers are there. Listen, do you know what would happen to this guy? He ain’t fighting in the UFC.
“You’re getting me talking about the f****** guy again! He’s getting hand-picked opponents and God knows what else is going on with that whole f****** thing. There’s a market for that. That’s not what I do.”
White admitted that “people want to see that” and Paul will make good money off of these kinds of boxing matches. “What I do is what happened tonight,” White continued. “We sold this place out and it was packed.”
The UFC president then took a stab at the 1.5 million pay-per-view buys that Paul claimed Triller generated.
“The numbers that you’re hearing that they did are full of s***,” White said. “They’re full of s***. Okay? They didn’t pull those kind of numbers at all, not even f****** close.”
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White Called Triller Fight Club a ‘Freakshow’
A little later in the press conference, White was once again asked about Triller Fight Club. A reporter brought up another pay-per-view buyrate for Paul vs. Askren, 1.3 million, that has been floating around.
“They didn’t do that either. I don’t believe anything they say,” White said. “That’s a f****** circus, that’s not a real… none of that’s real. You think any of that s*** going on there is real? Come on, man. I built a real business here, a real sport. That’s a freakshow.”
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