Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping confirmed that Team Jake Paul previously made him an offer for a boxing match.
Bisping, who is one of the UFC’s regular color commentators during its Fight Night broadcasts, has been retired from MMA for a few years now after suffering an eye injury that ended his career. Since then, we have heard no indications that he would even consider stepping back into the cage or into the boxing ring. But then again, money talks, and right now, whoever fights Paul is in line to make a lot of money.
Speaking to LowKickMMA.com recently, Bisping admitted that Team Jake Paul previously made him a contract offer, but he deemed it too low. That being said, “The Count” confirmed that if they offered him enough money, he would consider fighting Paul.
“I got offered a contract. It wasn’t enough money. They made an offer and it was some decent cash. But, if I’m going to make a fool out of myself by boxing a YouTuber, then I’d want a bit more for that. I’m not going to come out of retirement, but that’s essentially free money to me. If the number was big enough, then I’d be a fool not to go and pick up that money,” Bisping said.
“But I wasn’t pursuing it. And I think if anything, I think Jake was very clever. I think he just used me to try and make it seem like he was looking for real challenges. Because we got sent an offer and we countered with more than double. And we never heard anything again, and then we got the news that he’s fighting Ben Askren.”
Although Paul is criticized heavily by the combat sports community, Bisping praised him for being a smart businessman and knowing how to make money.
“Listen, good for Jake Paul. You can’t hate on the guy. Everyone is trying to get ahead in life, and he’s been smart enough to take his YouTube following and parlay it into a boxing career,” Bisping said.
“The guy is obviously passionate about the sport. He trains very hard. He’s a switched-on guy. He knows how to piss people off and everyone being pissed off, all that emotion, that transfers into dollars in the bank account.”
Would you be interested in seeing Michael Bisping fight in a boxing match against Jake Paul?