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Many UFC fans will not have heard of Jake Paul, but the YouTube star is certainly making his name well-known amongst the promotion’s top fighters. Jake Paul, who has over 20 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, has recently entered the world of professional boxing.
And despite having just two wins to his name – one over fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib and one over basketball player Nate Robinson – he’s now begun to call out some of the UFC’s top stars, most notably former UFC Lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
However, the truth is that despite all of his bluster – and apparent athletic talent – Jake Paul most likely wouldn’t have the skills to survive in an MMA fight, let alone at the highest end of the UFC.
With that in mind, here are five smaller UFC fighters who would destroy Jake Paul in a fight.
#1 Conor McGregor
An obvious starting point here would be former UFC Lightweight champion, Conor McGregor. The biggest star in UFC history, The Notorious One has sold millions of pay-per-views in his seven years with the promotion and is set to headline the first big UFC show of 2021 against Dustin Poirier.
Of course, McGregor has also dabbled in boxing, suffering a 10th round TKO at the great Floyd Mayweather's hands in 2017.
All of this means that purely from a financial standpoint, it makes sense for Jake Paul to have called the Irishman out for a fight, even if he had no reason to get so vulgar and personal.
But despite being around four inches taller and around 40lbs heavier than McGregor, there’s no doubt that the Irishman would absolutely destroy Jake Paul should he step into a fight against him.
Not only does McGregor have remarkably fast and accurate punches, but he’s not just a boxer. The Notorious One loves to throw kicks when he steps into the Octagon, and naturally, someone like Jake Paul probably has very little experience in taking such strikes.
Add in McGregor’s ability to use unorthodox strikes – as we saw when he hurt Donald Cerrone with shoulder thrusts in their fight at UFC 246 – and there can be no doubt that Jake Paul would be in trouble in this fight.
#2 Nate Diaz
Another UFC star who’s gotten into a Twitter spat with Jake Paul this week is former UFC Lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz. 2016 saw Diaz enter into a heavily publicized rivalry with Conor McGregor, and the two men split fights and have yet to face off in a rubber match.
Evidently, though, Diaz didn’t take too kindly to an outsider like Jake Paul poking at McGregor in such an insulting fashion. The native of Stockton, California, tweeted at Jake Paul, stating that he would “end up with (his) a** whooped for real somewhere talking like that."
Jake Paul quickly responded, telling Diaz, “You saw what happened to the other Nate,” in reference to Nate Robinson, only for the UFC star to take the bait again, telling Jake Paul’s older brother Logan to “check this little h* b**** before someone does."
Given Diaz’s penchant for boxing, this might actually be a fascinating match to see inside the UFC’s Octagon. But naturally, Diaz is not just a boxer - he’s also one of the best submission artists inside the world of MMA.
And given that Jake Paul has zero experience on the ground, the likelihood would be that despite giving up almost 30lbs of weight, Diaz would take him down and easily dominate him on the mat.
#3 Henry Cejudo
While the UFC would likely never put on a size mismatch that would pit a fighter standing at 5’4” and weighing 135lbs against a 6’1”, 200lbs opponent, there can simply be no doubt that if it came down to it, former UFC Bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo would destroy Jake Paul.
Cejudo recently called Jake Paul out on Instagram, stating that “I hear you like to pick on smaller, retired athletes....well, here I am."
Thus far, at least, Jake Paul has focused his energy on taunting Conor McGregor rather than the smaller Cejudo. And to tell the truth, he’s probably right to do so.
Not only is Cejudo – who hung up his gloves in May after defeating UFC legend Dominick Cruz – one of the most highly-rated fighters in UFC history, he’s also one of the promotion’s greatest-ever wrestlers. A 2008 Olympic gold medallist, if Cejudo were to fight Jake Paul, there’s no way the YouTuber would be able to stay vertical.
And if Cejudo were to put him on his back, then Jake Paul’s size advantage would be completely negated. Instead, the YouTube star would likely fall victim to the brutal ground-and-pound of Triple C, who destroyed the likes of T.J. Dillashaw and Marlon Moraes in such a way in the UFC.
The size difference in this fight would be ludicrous, but there can be little doubt that Cejudo – the smaller man – would win handily.
#4 Amanda Nunes
An inter-gender match between a YouTube star like Jake Paul and the UFC’s reigning female Bantamweight and Featherweight champion Amanda Nunes sounds ridiculous. But incredibly, it’s already been mooted by UFC President Dana White.
Sure, White was probably joking around when he claimed that he was “thinking of letting Amanda Nunes knock his a** out” in the wake of Jake Paul’s vulgar challenge to Conor McGregor. But the truth is that if the two stepped into the Octagon, that’d probably be the result.
Sure, Nunes would be giving up around 55lbs of weight and quite a bit of height too, but that probably wouldn’t matter to The Lioness. After all, Nunes has beaten former UFC champions like Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg – women that seemed almost invincible before Nunes got hold of them.
And more to the point, while Nunes loves to use her fists, she’s also adept at landing brutal kicks – just ask Holly Holm – and she’s a more than capable grappler, too. If Jake Paul were to step into a fight with her, the likelihood is that the YouTube star would find himself strangled and tapping out in quick fashion.
#5 Valentina Shevchenko
If one female UFC champion in Amanda Nunes could destroy Jake Paul, then could the same be said for another in the form of current UFC Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko? Despite the fact that she’d be giving up around 75lbs of weight, the answer is definitely yes.
The Bullet is one of the most well-rounded champions in UFC history, with a pinpoint accurate striking game to go alongside an underrated – and highly dangerous – ground game. Thus far into her UFC career, only Nunes – an all-time great – has beaten Shevchenko. Nobody else has come close.
Sure, Jake Paul is a good athlete who appears to hit hard. But would he even be able to land a blow on Shevchenko, who has an extensive background as a world-class Muay Thai fighter? Probably not. And even if he did, he’d likely eat something nasty on the counter – or find himself slammed to the ground before being punished on the mat.
This would be an embarrassing loss for Jake Paul. But in reality, there should be no shame in anyone – male or female – falling to a fighter with the talents of Shevchenko.
