Kevin Lee believes Jake Paul needs to fight someone like him in the cage to earn respect.
‘The Problem Child’ has been out of action since a decision victory over Anderson Silva in the boxing ring in October. While the fight was the closest of the YouTuber’s career thus far, an eighth-round knockdown for Paul sealed the win. He went on to claim the victory over ‘The Spider’ by unanimous decision.
Following that victory, the YouTuber teased that he would face Nate Diaz in the boxing ring. However, earlier this month, Paul threw fans a curveball. The undefeated boxer signed a deal to compete in MMA under the PFL umbrella and even got equity in the promotion.
Since then, several names have called to face Jake Paul. However, ‘The Motown Phenom’ believes he is the ideal choice, especially if the YouTuber wants respect. Lee discussed the possible fight in an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
The former UFC title challenger has been out of action since a win over Diego Sanchez in Eagle FC last year. Aside from his callout of Paul, Lee has also called for fights against names such as Khamzat Chimaev in recent weeks.
“They’re doing super fights now. What better way to do a super fight, than with me? I don’t know. I do think, if Jake Paul is serious, right? If he’s serious about fighting MMA, for one, I’m gonna give him respect if he just steps in the cage. It’s totally different than the boxing arena. This thing is totally different,” Kevin Lee said. (h/t MMA News)
He continued, “But if he wants real respect from the people who really understand fighting, he’s gonna have to fight someone like me. I’m in the prime of my career, a hell of a wrestler. I fought six different world champions… I’ve already fought all these guys, so even if he goes the distance with me, even if he was to make it past one bell, people can look at him and say ‘Oh, okay this guy can fight Leon Edwards one day.’ Like, he would actually have potential.”
“Right now, it’s a freak show that he’s putting on. And he’s making money, but I’m in the business of making money too. If he wants to make it legitimate, I’ll be around.”
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