Yes, the headline is insane, but this is the current state of combat sports.
YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul released a diss track today which disses the UFC primarily focused at UFC President Dana White, and Paul did not hold back lyrically or visually.
The track primarily focuses on calling out White and the UFC on their practices of holding fighters under extremely strict contracts, as well as severely under-paying them. These are both issues that have been gaining growing attention in the past few months, especially with fighters like Francis Ngannou speaking out about them. Paul himself has actually been an outspoken advocate for fighter rights, specifically UFC fighters, with many dubbing him the Robinhood of the fight game. The reason is because Paul is one of the only people that is in a position where he can actually go to war with White and the UFC because he has nothing to lose. Paul does business with Showtime, the UFC’s rival. Paul also has nothing to lose by calling him out, in fact he can only gain from it. He knows that every time he calls out White, he’ll likely get another headline (like he’s getting right now. You’re welcome Jake). So whether Paul actually cares about fighter rights or not is unclear, but what is clear is that he’s been doing all he can lately to embarrass the UFC and White.
In fact, the UFC even let Ngannou’s team know that they would be suing them for talking with Paul’s team just before Ngannou’s fight at UFC 270.
Earlier this week Paul announced he’s partnered with investment companies to invest in Endeavor (the UFC’s parent company) with goals of increasing fighter rights.
I’ve invested in EDR (UFC) stock with my partner @geoffreywoo 2 focus on UFCs ESG standards relating to fighters. We believe EDR can drive long-term economic value by increasing UFC fighter pay & providing them healthcare. Reaching out to @EngineNo_1 to partner on this “endeavor”
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) January 25, 2022
He also appeared on ESPN’s First Take to advocate for creating a fighter union, something that’s been discussed for years in the fight sphere.
Time for a fighter union…https://t.co/BH1qmnp9mH
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) January 27, 2022
And then he’s also just doing his regular trolling, but again, it still raises awareness.
I’ve redesigned the logo. pic.twitter.com/K0sFuQqOyf
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) January 27, 2022
The Video:
You can watch the full diss track video here:
It should be noted that former UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg made an appearance in the video. For a long time Cyborg was touted as the greatest female fighter of all time until Amanda Nunes knocked her out in 2018. Cyborg would depart the UFC in 2019 following her own issues with White and would partner up with former promoter Scott Coker in Bellator where Cyborg is currently the women’s featherweight champion.
It should also be noted that Paul mentions in the description of the video that “all proceeds from this video go to underpaid fighters in the UFC who get paid the $12k minimum.” This refers to the UFC’s $12k starter contract, where fighters receive $12k to show and $12k to win. It’s unclear how Paul will be giving this money to those fighters.
Author’s Note:
So yes, this is still Jake Paul we’re talking about. BUT, this is why I always caution people who confront me and go “oh Jake Paul is such a joke.” Yes, he’s a silly YouTuber and what he’s doing is trolling (he’s admitted that countless times himself, that’s not just me saying that). But nobody can deny that he is one of, if not possibly THE biggest advocate for fighters’ rights right now. Nobody else is doing what he’s doing to bring these issue to light. Whether he’s just doing it to troll or he genuinely wants to help out is one thing, but he’s really doing it, and that should count for something. I’d guarantee you there are countless fighters on the UFC roster that are thankful for what Paul is doing but they just can’t say anything out of fear.
