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This past weekend saw YouTube star Jake Paul pick up his biggest win in a boxing ring to date, as he knocked out former UFC star Ben Askren.
Jake Paul is already making plenty of noise about his next fight. But could he face off with Ben Askren’s training partner, former UFC Welterweight champ Tyron Woodley?
Apparently, Askren and Woodley have both been pushing for this fight – and recently, Tyron Woodley claimed he’s holding talks with UFC President Dana White about the possibility.
So could we see Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley in the near future? Perhaps – and here are three reasons why Tyron Woodley should push for this fight.
#1 The UFC would probably allow Tyron Woodley to take the fight as they have little to lose
Jake Paul has been calling plenty of UFC stars out for a while now, even attempting to entice UFC superstar Conor McGregor into the boxing ring.
But the truth is that none of these fights can happen without the UFC’s approval, as the promotion’s contracts are very binding – meaning no UFC fighter could take a boxing match without their consent.
However, if the UFC believes one of their fighters is expendable, then they may be more willing to allow a fight with someone like Jake Paul to happen.
And the chances would increase even more if they could use it as a chance to co-promote, as they did with 2017’s McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather clash.
So the good news for Tyron Woodley is that right now, he’s probably expendable.
The former UFC Welterweight champion has not won a fight since his 2018 victory over Darren Till, and four losses in a row have seen him tumble down the rankings.
At the age of 39, Tyron Woodley probably doesn’t have that long left at the top. If the UFC’s recent behavior is anything to go by, he could well find himself on the cutting pile sooner rather than later.
However, according to most sources, UFC president Dana White is desperate to shut Jake Paul up for good and was disappointed that Ben Askren failed to do so.
With that in mind, it’d hardly be a risk for the UFC to allow Tyron Woodley – a man on a four-fight losing streak – to face the YouTuber.
If Tyron Woodley were to win, Paul would be firmly put in his place. But if The Chosen One were to lose, then the UFC could simply claim he’s finished anyway.
The UFC are never likely to allow someone like McGregor to fight Jake Paul. But they may allow Tyron Woodley to do it, and so The Chosen One should definitely push them for the opportunity.
#2 A win could reignite Tyron Woodley’s fading career
Right now, the thing that Tyron Woodley needs the most is simply a win.
The last time The Chosen One tasted victory in the UFC was way back in September 2018, when he defeated Darren Till to defend his UFC Welterweight title for the fourth time.
Since then, Tyron Woodley has fallen to Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, Colby Covington and Vicente Luque, being finished by the latter two to add insult to injury.
The UFC have cut fighters for much less, and it’s likely that only Woodley’s status as a former champion – as well as the quality of the opponents that have beaten him – has saved him thus far.
The UFC aren’t ever likely to give Tyron Woodley a softball fight. But a boxing match with a novice like Jake Paul would be another thing entirely.
Not only would it be a chance for a UFC fighter to silence the trash-talking YouTuber, but it’d be a good fight for Woodley, too.
Sure, The Chosen One isn’t a career kickboxer. But he’s a far superior striker to Ben Askren, can definitely box, and has a number of wins by knockout on his ledger.
Woodley has shown weaknesses in the UFC, but he’s definitely got enough skill on the feet to take out a boxer who only throws haymakers and has only beaten opponents who can’t really box.
And if Tyron Woodley were to knock out Jake Paul, which is likely, the win could reignite his fading career and instantly make him a big star again. Looking at it like that, it’s a no-brainer for him.
#3 A Jake Paul fight would likely net Tyron Woodley a mega payday
Perhaps the biggest motivator for Tyron Woodley to attempt to make a fight with Jake Paul would be the money at stake.
Woodley’s last UFC outing saw him net some decent money. The former UFC Welterweight champion took home a reported $590k, including a $500k base salary, a $50k performance bonus, and a $40k sponsorship bonus.
However, as everyone is aware, the money in the world of boxing – particularly on a big-selling pay-per-view – can be much greater than what the UFC has to offer.
Ben Askren, for instance, reportedly made $500k for his recent loss to Jake Paul. That’s obviously less than Woodley made against Luque, but there might be a caveat to consider.
Somehow, the Paul vs. Askren show sold around 1.5m pay-per-view buys and generated somewhere around $75m.
Paul reportedly pocketed around $10m for the fight, and so if Askren was granted a portion of the pay-per-view profits, as the UFC does with its top stars, he may well have made a career-high purse.
So if Tyron Woodley could negotiate a similar deal for a fight with Paul, even if the UFC were to take a cut, it’s likely that he might make more money than he’s ever made in his career.
And in the world of prizefighting, that’s a big deal. If nothing else, Tyron Woodley should be pushing for this fight for financial reasons.
