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Boxing

02nd Jan 2022

Dana White responds to Jake Paul’s claim he will retire from boxing if UFC pay fighters more

Daniel Brown

‘I’m ready to roll buddy. I don’t use cocaine. Do you use steroids? Let’s do this Jake.’

UFC president Dana White has responded to Jake Paul’s claim that he will retire from boxing if the UFC pay their fighters more and provide better healthcare.

The YouTuber-turned-boxer currently boasts a professional record of 5-0 and recently secured a devastating knockout victory against Tyron Woodly in December.

However, ‘The Problem Child’ has stated that he will permanently step away from boxing if White agrees to three conditions – one of which would see him fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC.

Taking to social media, Paul promised to ‘immediately retire from boxing’ if White increased the pay in the UFC and improved long-term healthcare for his fighters.

Writing on Twitter, he wrote: “Happy new year Dana White. Here is a real challenge for you… I will immediately retire from boxing and fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC if you agree to:

“1) Increase min fighter pay per fight to $50K (it’s $12K now)

“2) Guarantee UFC fighters 50% of UFC annual revenues ($1bn in 2021)

“3) Provide longterm healthcare to all fighters (you previously said brain damage is part of the gig…imagine the NFL said that). There are many UFC alums who have publicly said they are suffering from brain damage

“You have 5 days to accept and to implement the above by March 31, 2022. Once implemented I will immediately retire from boxing, enter USADA and agree to a 1 fight deal with UFC to fight weak chin Jorge

“To all UFC fighters — time to take a stand and create value for yourselves and peers. You deserve higher pay, you deserve long term healthcare and above all you deserve freedom. Support each other.

“I am not your enemy, I am your advocate…who selfishly wants to KO a few of you to make some big bank.”

White has since responded to Paul’s demands, taking aim at the PPV buys for Paul vs Tyron Woodley II last month and questioning whether the 24-year-old even wrote the statement himself.

He also informed the ‘Problem Child’ that he never responded to his initial challenge of being tested for cocaine for 10 years, as long as he can test Paul for steroids.

White said: “That thing that you came out with today: nobody on earth thinks that you really wrote that. You’re too stupid.

“And for those of you that don’t know, if you’ve ever watched one of his fights and you see when they do the stare-down, the guy that’s standing in the middle with the warlock nose and the big warlock wart on his face, apparently that’s his manager and that guy used to be an accountant for me.

“And let’s just say this, he no longer works for me and I think he’s a scumbag.”

It is thought that Paul’s second fight with former UFC champion Woodley did less than 65,000 buys, however, the YouTuber has since denied those claims.

White added: “But if you two think that you can do it better than we do, that we’re doing this whole thing wrong, that you can treat the fighters better than we do, knock yourself out.

“Go start your own business. It’s easy to do, get the warlock on it. The warlock can get it started for you.

“What you and the warlock should be focused on is your business. You’re tanking. You can’t sell pay-per-views.

“You’re calling out Jorge Masvidal because he’s a pay-per-view superstar. Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Mike Tyson – these are all superstars.

“You’re not. You can’t sell pay-per-views. You do whatever the hell you wanna do. I’m ready to roll buddy. I don’t use cocaine. Do you use steroids? Let’s do this Jake.”