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Jake Paul recently defeated Tyron Woodley via a controversial split decision at the Rocket Mortgage Stadium in Cleveland. Paul has now expressed his desire to fight former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
However, Jake Paul claims to have a lot of respect for the russian legend. According to the YouTuber-turned-boxer, he would be willing to fight Khabib, but wouldn't troll the Dagestani like he has his previous opponents.
On a recent episode of The Fullsend Podcast, Jake Paul said:
"I have so much respect for him (Khabib Nurmagomedov), I wouldn't troll him. I'd be like 'You're the best, but let's fight.'"
Catch Jake Paul's appearance on The Fullsend Podcast below:
Jake Paul has previously denied any interest in fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov. When asked about it in a recent Q&A session on Instagram, the YouTuber said that he wouldn’t fight 'The Eagle' because he loves the former UFC lightweight champ and Russia.
But despite that, Jake Paul also once appeared to mock Khabib Nurmagomedov. The 24-year old posted a TikTok video where he appears to be impersonating Khabib by wearing a red T-shirt and his characteristic "papakha" wool hat. Despite deleting the video immediately after posting it, Paul faced a lot of backlash on social media.
When Khabib Nurmagomedov's coach praised Jake Paul
Jake Paul had a feud with Khabib's AKA teammate Daniel Cormier. At one point, Paul had even suggested a potential boxing bout between himself and Cormier.
AKA head coach Javier Mendez even praised Jake Paul for his marketing strategy. However, having known Cormier for years, Mendez was confident that DC would not box Paul. Javier Mendez said in an interview with Helen Yee:
"With Daniel, he doesn't play with anybody. With Daniel, it's a real thing, you know? And I think Jake Paul is doing a great job of marketing himself and making himself out there because he's a boxer. But yeah, here we are in an MMA site and we are talking about Jake Paul! So, obviously he is doing something great. But that's the wrong bear. That's the papa bear and papa bear, he ain't playing. So, you can go box somebody else because papa bear is not gonna box you. But Jake Paul is doing an unbelievable job."
Catch Helen Yee's interview with Javier Mendez below:
