Jake Paul has teased fighting in mixed martial arts for years. A former two-time opponent wants to run it with ‘El Gallo’ in MMA. Tyron Woodley is the referenced competitor who boxed Paul in a pair of prizefights. ‘The Chosen One’ has found renewed energy on the wrestling mats lately. The 44-year-old notched a comeback win against Joaquin Buckley under the Real American Freestyle banner recently. Woodley now prepares to wrestle former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev at RAF Moscow later on this week.
When asked pre-Buckley contest what the dynamics were like preparing for two RAF opponents simultaneously, Woodley said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, when you look at Joaquin Buckley and [Khamzat] Chimaev, they both are very strong, aggressive athletes. I feel like that’s the same genre. So, I’m going to be competing against different skill levels, different skill sets, different approaches to it. But I feel like it’s good to go against a guy that’s going to be a similar aggression, a similar pressure, similar strength as Chimaev. Also, it’s like when you look at wrestling, we wrestle two or three times a day sometimes.”
“So, it’s not always like a one match competition or one fight every three months. Wrestling, you may wrestle three times in one day and you don’t know who the next person is. Because you got to win and they got to win or if you lose and you end up in a consolation, you can wrestle somebody that you didn’t know. In this case, it’s just giving us an opportunity to wrestle somebody we know we’re going to wrestle. It’s not looking past Buckley and it’s not too much to do.”
“Like if I wrestle in the Big 12 Championship and I’m training for the Big 12 Championship, I can’t wait until after the Big 12 Championship to train for the NCAA’s. Or I may see somebody from Penn State, Iowa, Minnesota, you know what I mean? Michigan, some other school. I got to have my skill set ready to take on everyone. So luckily for me, I understand that. So, I’m training for Buckley and I’m training for Khamzat at the same time.”
“Jake Paul in an MMA fight” is the biggest bout for MVP-PFL, per Woodley
With boxing and shoot pro wrestling taking up his focus competitively in recent times, the former UFC welterweight champion is still involved in MMA. Woodley is involved with the GFL to a certain extent in a quasi-consulting role.
Jake Paul is also a figurehead character with MVP, and that promotional entity recently acquired PFL. Woodley also has referenced ties to Global Fight League, and a past as a UFC welterweight champion. When asked about what organization the decorated combatant would entertain donning the 4oz gloves again for, Woodley stated [via Bowks Talking <em>Bouts],
“I think the biggest fight that the PFL could make with a merger with Jake Paul is me and Jake Paul in an MMA fight. I feel like that’s the biggest one they can do. GFL, I’ll be willing to fight for those guys. Just because I believe in; they have such a good intention about what they’re doing about giving revenue share and fighters a chance to own it and also just consult. I’m kind of consulting each brand, you know what I mean? I don’t have to.”
“Everybody knows I’m working with the other person, but it’s only because of my true love for the sport, I want to help grow it the most I can. So, anything that I can help Nakisa [Bidarian] with, talk to him. I do it all the time. We talk all the time. Scott Coker, me and him have talked recently. I’m going to try my best to make it out to his launch event in September in New York. I’ll be there filming a TV show anyway.”
“GFL, I’m consulting those guys a little bit more publicly with their launch. Like I said before, they’re giving the fighters an opportunity to own something. No fight promotion has done that yet where fighters can get equity in the company instead of just fighting your teeth and your hair out. Then when you get done, you got to figure out how you’re going to make money. So, I love what MMA is right now. Even if the UFC, I don’t know.”
“I mean, they got it kind of going on from; but even if the UFC had had something that they felt like I would benefit or I can come to the table and add value to, I wouldn’t be against that either. So, I’m for growing the sport of mixed martial art that’s given me so much. I’m already consulting three different leagues on mixed martial arts. It’s almost like a fighter liaison. Of what I know they need. I’ve been at the top, I’ve been at the bottom.”
“I’ve been treated great. I’ve been, I mean, had some fights here and there. So, I feel like I’m the most respected fighter in the sport for just knowing the market value, knowing the money, knowing the numbers, knowing what people have gotten, what people try to get.”
“I know all of the secret sauces behind [the scenes], and I feel like from a business standpoint, I can be a weapon for each one to to maximize. So, I’m thankful that I’m being used in that space. Yeah, just whatever God got for me, that’s what I want.”
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