Jake Paul seems to have the Midas touch, turning everything he touches into gold.
At 27, the American is a successful actor, YouTuber, entrepreneur and professional boxer, and now co-founder of the Professional Fighters League Super Fight Division.
The promotion launched the first PFL Super Fight Championship Belt, which brings two title contests, between former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira, and female MMA stars Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheo, to Saudi Arabia on October 19.
Paul was at the press conference last month to announce the Riyadh event along with the two heavyweight title contenders Ngannou and Ferreira.
“I think it’s great what the PFL and I have partnered to do, just to help fighters make more money and put them on a big stage,” Paul told The National in a Zoom interview.
“It’s gonna be amazing to have our first one in Riyadh with Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira and this fight is gonna be absolutely massive. They're massive and it's the 'Battle of the Giants'.
“These guys are huge and I believe someone's gonna get knocked out. Yeah, that's an exciting fight and you have two title fights with the co-main event being the Pacheo versus Cyborg. We are still filling out the rest of the card.”
Saudi Arabia has emerged as a hot spot for a wide variety of high-profile sporting events with Paul endorsing it as the right place to launch the PFL Super Fight Championship.
“I think the fight fans there love Francis, and I think it's a perfect spot for him to fight and it's just always exciting and this is going to be a massive fight. So it needed a massive place like Saudi Arabia to put the show on,” he said.
Ngannou became a recognised name among Saudi fans after his appearances in two high-profile heavyweight boxing bouts in the kingdom, against Tyson Fury in October 2023 and Anthony Joshua six months later.
“The fight game is developing in the kingdom and it's becoming more and more usual to go there and I think they have a ton of fight fans, which is the most important thing for a fight city,” Paul said.
“You need the fans to show up to all the events and that's what keeps happening there and the events keep on getting better and better.”
MMA, in particular, is growing in the region and Paul wants to widen the horizon for the PFL Super Fight Championship with Abu Dhabi and Dubai as prospective host cities for future events.
“There have definitely been conversations behind the scenes of going to Abu Dhabi or going to Dubai,” he said.
“I would love to take a fight there, and I have a lot of fans in both those places, so I think it'd be really fun.”
However, Paul may have to skip the first PFL Super Fight Championship in Riyadh as it clashes with his preparation for his boxing bout against former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson on November 15 at the IT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“It's going to be a legendary historic night with 90,000 people at AT&T Stadium,” he said, when asked of his meeting with Tyson.
“It will be the most viewed fight ever. Just to even say that is very surreal and I know Mike is my toughest and strongest opponent yet.
“I have to move up to heavyweight and I believe he's going to be dangerous for the first half of the fight and then I believe I'll be able to stop him in the second half.”
Tyson is one of the most feared heavyweight champions in history and more than 30 years Paul's senior.
“No, it definitely matters,” Paul said when asked about the age difference. “I think it's the equaliser, right? I have youth, but he has experience and so many more years of boxing, so many more fights.
“He has the weight, me moving up to heavyweight, and then I believe he's more powerful. So that's what makes this a 50-50 fight in my opinion. The age is sort of my advantage.”
Paul has also signed up for PFL to compete as a professional MMA fighter in 2025 but his first appearance in the cage will have to come after his match against Tyson.
“They are trying to find a fight for me and find a name. It's just been difficult to find someone with a big enough name that makes sense. I’m sure that day will come,” he said of a possible MMA debut.
Paul hasn’t started MMA training as he’s been focused on his boxing and the upcoming match.
“Boxing takes up so much of my time tight now,” he said. “We will see, you know, it all depends on being able to find the right opponent and the timing but I'm ready whenever to make a big fight in MMA and obviously with the PFL, it's gonna be huge.”
Paul is confident PFL and the Super Fight Championships will be successful.
“I just have to put on my promotional hat and help promote the fight in the pay-per-view and get my fans excited and to be a part of the storyline and to do what all the other promoters do,” he said.
“PFL is already the second biggest MMA promotion behind the UFC. And obviously the UFC is massive, but I believe the PFL over the next couple of years will start to eat the UFC's lunch and we basically will keep on growing and growing.
“We already took their biggest star in Francis and I think other fighters will see Francis make tens of millions of dollars over here and look at their bank accounts at the UFC.
“They'll be like ‘Hey! I need to go over to the PFL and get what I'm worth.’ And the more fighters that do that, the bigger we're going to get and then I'm going to start fighting in MMA and the rest is history.”
