Jake Paul spent about 15 minutes fielding questions from the media Saturday night after his knockout of Tyron Woodley, reflecting on his meteoric rise in 2021 and pondering what’s ahead for 2022.
It wasn’t until the very end of Paul’s session that a reporter asked him, “What do you want to say to Dana White right now?”
Paul, who’s spent much of the past year publicly feuding with the UFC president and a large stable of his fighters, smiled and put his head down before delivering a careful message backstage.
“I just knocked out a five-time UFC champion and embarrassed your whole company,” Paul said. “And please, please let me get Kamaru Usman, please let me get Diaz, please let me get Masvidal, please let me get McGregor. Because I’m gonna embarrass them, too. I promise you that, Dana. I promise you that.”
Two of the UFC fighters Paul mentioned by name – Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal – were in attendance at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. But according to Paul, they left before watching him flatten Woodley with a vicious overhand right in the sixth round of their rematch.
Masvidal tweeted a video response to Paul.
“You can’t fucking afford me,” Masvidal said. “Me and those other names you mentioned, you can’t fucking afford. … I’ll tell you a little secret: I fight for money, or I fight the best in the world. You’re neither.”
Earlier in the night at the UFC Fight Night 199 post-event news conference, White indicated he would not be watching Paul and Woodley run it back.
“No,” White said. “You already saw that fight, right? I mean, we saw that fight already.”
Paul, who made his name as a YouTuber before becoming a professional boxer, closed out 2021 3-0 with a knockout over Ben Askren and two victories – a split decision in August and Saturday’s knockout – against Woodley.
