Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier says he won’t fight YouTuber Jake Paul in a boxing match and is only willing to fight him inside the octagon under MMA rules so that he can “hurt” him. Jake would be the A-side, so Cormier seems to have an upside-down perspective when looking at the fight.
Cormier doesn’t appear to realize that Jake would be the A-side in a fight between them, which means he would need to fight him in a boxing ring or not at all.
The 42-year-old Cormier’s decision NOT to fight Jake Paul essentially means that he won’t be getting the big payday that he would have gotten had he agreed to the boxing match. It’s interesting how fighters keep shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to Jake Paul.
First, it was Tommy Fury with his promoter saying that they wanted a 50-50 split, which was never going to happen in a million years.
Now, it’s Cormier, who is insisting that Jake Paul fight him under MMA rules, despite the YouTuber being the more popular of the two and the one bringing in all the PPV buys.
Daniel Cormier online
“Imma Smack Jake Paul when I see him”Daniel Cormier in person… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/zHnssneYBV
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) April 25, 2021
Cormier may end up kicking himself when Jake’s next opponent winds up getting a massive payday that he could have had if he had agreed to fight him inside the boxing ring.
Jake is arguably the much bigger star due to his huge popularity from YouTube, and a fight against him would likely greatly surpass what Cormier made during his days as a UFC fighter.
It likely wouldn’t end well for Cormier against Jake indie a boxing match between he’d likely get mowed down by the sledgehammer right hands that the young 24-year-old would be hitting him with.
For a fight between them to take place, Cormier would need to lose some weight because he’s carrying around a big potbelly that Andy Ruiz Jr would be proud of, and he wouldn’t be able to keep in that kind of shape.
Cormier was pretty chunky during his days in the UFC, but in boxing, you can’t get away fighting with that much fat hanging off you unless you’re facing weak opposition.
Cormier blowing his chance for a Jake fight
“I’m not going to let Jake Paul disrespect me,” said Cormier to ESPN. “Why would I go and box Jake Paul? Who I am doesn’t make me chase anything. I made my money as the heavyweight champion of the world. I don’t have to chase a payday.
“This kid wants to fight, OK, I’ll fight him. But it will be a mixed martial arts competition. If he wants to actually fight with me, fight me in mixed martial arts and then I’ll fight him all the way down at 205.
“If you really want to fight me, like seriously fight me, fight me in mixed martial arts
“I’m going to torture him and I’m going to hurt him. I don’t want to box him, I don’t want to fight in a limited skill set of rules. I’m going to smash him,” said Cormier in making it clear that he’s backing down from the call out by Jake Paul.
I smell fear.
I hate to break this to Cormier, but he’s not going to be torturing anybody but himself because he’s not going to get the fight with Jake unless he fights him inside a boxing ring.
By acting as if he’s the one calling the shots, Cormier is messing up his chance to get a huge payday against Jake. Ben Askren got $500,000, and that’s not chump change for the former UFC fighter.
If Cormier wants similar or better money, he’s going to need to see the light and agree to fight Jake inside the boxing ring. It would be a good idea for Cormier to losing some weight as well because he’s got some pounds he’s going to need to take off for him to have any chance of winning the fight.