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The UFC is the centerpiece of this edition of Sportskeeda's MMA News Roundup. One of the promotion's ex-fighters recently showered the polarizing Jake Paul with praise, while Sean O'Malley did the same for Conor McGregor.
Meanwhile, Jon Jones reflected on what MMA means for him after competing in the sport for nearly two decades.
Jake Paul draws praise from an ex-UFC fighter
Jake Paul is a controversial figure, but not everyone has allowed their pride to stop them from giving 'The Problem Child' his due. Recently, ex-UFC star Mike Perry did just that on the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry podcast.
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"We have to give him credit. He has gotten a lot better. Is he a professional contender? No! But I will say this about Jake Paul... Jake's good. Jake's pretty good. Nobody will give him credit. That's fine."
Check out Mike Perry praising Jake Paul (17:46):
Perry isn't the only ex-UFC fighter to speak positively of Paul. Not that long ago, Darren Till praised 'The Problem Child.'
Sean O'Malley praises Conor McGregor
On the FULL SEND PODCAST, Sean O'Malley reflected on Conor McGregor's impact, who he once dreamed of eclipsing. Now, though, 'Sugar' seems to have understood that doing so is a task too tall.
"Conor, to me, was not necessarily [just a fighter]. Obviously, his skillset is really high, but when it just comes to all around entertainment, it's Conor right now."
While O'Malley has distinguished himself as a star in his own right, he is nowhere near McGregor.
"I always kinda put myself, 'I wanna be as big as Conor.' I wanna do that, [but] it's like, I don't think I could be as big as Conor. He's just a once in a lifetime [star]."
Check out Sean O'Malley praising Conor McGregor (30:31 and 31:57):
O'Malley is currently gearing up for UFC 316, with the intention of reclaiming his bantamweight title from Merab Dvalishvili in a controversial rematch.
Jon Jones expresses gratitude to MMA
In a recent interview on the DeepCut podcast, Jon Jones spoke about how important MMA has been to his life. He said the following about appreciating the sport:
"I'll always love MMA. Somehow, the universe made me one of the best at it, so I'll always love it. I'll always love it. It always will be there. It changed my life. It gave me an opportunity to change my branch in my family tree, and so I'll always be greatly indebted to the sport."
Check out Jon Jones' thoughts on MMA (1:15:34):
The MMA fandom, though, is waiting for Jones to defend his UFC heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall, which he isn't keen on doing.
