Jake Paul has made no secret of his dislike of Dana White - and the YouTube star claims the UFC president needs him to sell pay-per-views.
Paul, who faces former UFC champion Tyron Woodley on August 29, has slammed White in the past over UFC fighter pay with the social media star even donating $5,000 to a fighter's GoFundMe after she struggling to fund her training camp.
White has also criticised Paul for "lying" about the number of pay-per-view buys his fight with Ben Askren sold in March.
And although Paul would be open to facing other fighters on the UFC roster after his August 29 date with Woodley, he doesn't think White will be so keen on the idea.
"It all depends, I think we just have to see how the cookie crumbles. And obviously, they have to be free agents. Because I don't think Dana White is letting anyone fight me soon," Paul told ESPN.
"It is [partly my fault] but I don't care because I don't need his fighters to sell pay-per-views, unfortunately for him. A lot of people need Dana White, I am the farthest thing from that. In fact, Dana White needs me."
Paul has become one of the most talked about names in combat sports since his knockout win over Askren. It was the third professional win for 'The Problem Child', having finished fellow YouTuber AnEsongib and former NBA star Nate Robinson before that.
White has also called "b********" on claims that Woodley, who fought in the UFC for eight years, will make more from his boxing debut than he did in any of his six UFC title fights.
"I’ve been hearing that bulls*** forever, they’re all full of s***. What’s he making? Exactly," White said.
"If it’s that much money and he’s so proud of how much it is, how much is it? They’re all full of s***."
Paul found success on the defunct platform Vine before his YouTube career took off. He thinks years of content creation has helped him to attract the attention of combat sports fans around the world.
"I didn’t realise it at first but everything I’ve done in my whole: media, training, filming, trolling, disses, rap battles has literally prepared me to come into the fight game and be the best content creator," he continued.
"Be the best at doing media, rustling feathers and posting on social media.
"It’s something that you don’t see a lot of fighters do, or know how to do. Conor McGregor is really the only other one that does it. Ryan Garcia’s good at it, Logan is good at it, Tyson Fury ’s good at it. But it’s a legitimate skill and it’s a job, I put effort into the things I create."
