Whenever Jake Paul makes his rumored cage-fighting debut in MVP MMA next year, two-time foe Tyron Woodley believes he is the best to be his opponent.
Woodley (19-7-1) will go down as one of the greatest UFC welterweights of all-time after reigning as the division’s champion for three years (from 2016 to 2019). However, no sporting endeavor lasts forever. So he made the jump to boxing in 2021 to prolong his athletic career and helped to make Paul a far bigger name in the sport. Yes, he lost both of their fights, but the victories over a former UFC champion helped bring legitimacy to Paul’s resume.
Later this month at RAF 12, the 44-year-old will switch sports again and return to his wrestling roots when he makes his debut for Real American Freestyle against current top-10 UFC welterweight Joaquin Buckley. However, he is open to a return to MMA in the future. Oddly enough, the 29-year-old influencer-turned-boxer is rumored to make the move to cage-fighting in 2027 after his fight promotion, MVP, merged with the Professional Fighters League this month.
Well, when Sportsnaut asked Woodley this week about welcoming Paul to MMA, he made it clear there should be no other fighter under consideration as his debut opponent.
“He shouldn’t even be entertaining another bout besides me. I’m the one who stepped up and gave him the credibility. I’m the one who stepped up on two weeks’ notice and saved the card [for their rematch]. Everybody was going to have no Christmas gifts that December in 2021. I stepped up on two weeks’ notice after I was literally on the set of Kobra Kai, filming 14-hour days… I did what I needed to do to get that fight”
Paul has built his boxing resume by fighting older stars from the MMA ranks. Over his 14 career fights, six have come against cage-fighting veterans. Including Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, and Mike Perry. The latter two have often long been linked to being opponent options for Paul if he did compete in MMA.
Tyron Woodley record: 19-7-1 (6 KOs, 6 submissions)
However, Woodley believes that of the three, he makes the most sense for the Ohio native since Paul has built a reputation as a risk-taker.
“There’s no Nate Diaz. There’s no Mike Perry. There’s no other MMA fight that makes more sense than me. If you want to say I’m the kid that took all the risk and fought Anthony Joshua, Woodley, Silva, Diaz in boxing, I think he should be fighting Diaz in a jiu -jitsu match. He should be doing a bare-knuckle fight against Perry. But in MMA, he should be doing it against me.”
Of the three MMA veterans, Woodley certainly is the most accomplished inside the cage. He is also the oldest. Which, based on Paul’s previous history, would make him a perfect option for his first fight in a cage. While he is 15 years older than Paul, even at 44 years old, Woodley’s kicking skills and All-American wrestling would offer a major test for the loudmouth fighter.
Woodley’s return to amateur wrestling will take place at RAF 12 on August 22 inside Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.