Brendan Schaub disagrees with UFC contender Anthony Smith about Jake Paul.
‘The Problem Child’ has proven to be a controversial figure in combat sports. While some, such as Mike Tyson, have praised Paul for bringing attention to boxing, not everyone agrees. In fact, most MMA fighters seem to be against the YouTuber.
The obvious reason is that the social media star has picked a fight with the sport, and it’s legends. While Paul has yet to face an established professional boxer, he has knocked out former UFC stars Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley. He also picked up a decision win over the legendary Anderson Silva last weekend.
Following that clash, UFC commentator and light-heavyweight contender Anthony Smith blasted Jake Paul. On his podcast, ‘Believe You Me’ with Michael Bisping, he slammed the boxer. He stated:
“We should all boycott the rest of his fights until he fights someone who’s on his level or whatever level we deem him to be. You talk all this sh*t about MMA fighters, you talk sh*t about the UFC, then you pretend that you wanna bring fighters up and you want everyone to get paid better but you trash everyone, every time they fight.”
“Older, shorter, smaller, past their prime legends that have spend their entire careers running their bodies into f*cking car accidents and we hold these guys near and dear to our hearts. Go f*ck yourself, like why are we even pandering to this piece of sh*t?”
Now, Brendan Schaub has given his thoughts on the recent comments made by ‘Lionheart’. The fighter-turned-podcaster clearly disagrees with Smith and stated that the idea of boycotting Paul’s boxing matches is silly.
The former UFC heavyweight also stated that fighters such as ‘The Spider’ are making career-high paydays against the YouTuber. For that reason, Schaub believes that Smith’s anger is misguided.
“That’s weird. I can get it, trust me I get it. [But], if he fought to the level that the internet “deems him to be”, who would he fight Anthony? Pauly Shore?” stated the former fighter on The Schaub Show podcast. “You guys think he’s the worst of all time, so who should fight? If he predicated it off the internet, you wouldn’t allow him to fight. So, that’s silly.”
Brendan Schaub continued, “The hate, he should steer it toward other people. You realize Anderson made more money in this fight than he ever made. Woodley made more in this fight than he ever made, Ben Askren made more than he’s ever made. Also, if he’s not good, why’s he beating these guys? He’s also advocating for fighter pay. He’s the only one with this magnitude of a platform to even get close to bringing attention to it.”
“I would say that he’s doing a lot more for UFC fighters than anyone else has ever done.”
Regardless of fan opinion on him, Jake Paul’s war with MMA fighters appears to be heating up. He’s currently rumored to face Nate Diaz next, as the Stockton slugger exited the UFC in September.
What do you make of these comments? Who do you agree with? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!