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Israel Adesanya and Jake Paul are no strangers to one another. Adesanya served as a part of the commentary team for Paul’s boxing match against NBA star Nate Robinson in November 2020.
Meanwhile, Jake Paul and his older brother Logan Paul have repeatedly expressed their respect and admiration for Israel Adesanya and his martial arts prowess.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Israel Adesanya was asked about Paul vs Woodley. Adesanya responded by picking Paul to defeat Woodley:
“Jake (wins) most likely. Tyron’s just small. Yeah, and I mean, Tyron, on the (fight's) trailer, they called him an expert striker. I’m like, since when? Expert striker, yeah, I was like, ‘Since the f**k when?’ He’s got a right hand that he, you know, looks for. So, when you have one thing to look for, it’s easier to avoid that. And, yeah, Jake’s big. Jake’s actually a good boxer. So, yeah, if I was gonna bet, I’d bet on Jake Paul.”
Additionally, Israel Adesanya chimed in on the much-discussed tattoo bet between Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley. Paul had suggested that the loser of their fight would get a tattoo of the winner’s name on their body. Adesanya believes that Woodley shouldn’t have taken that bet. ‘The Last Stylebender’ said:
“But f**k that was a stupid bet he took as well. And he kind of got bullied into making that bet”, Adesanya laughed and continued, “Yeah, if you’re confident, f**k it, take the bet. But if you weren’t gonna take the bet and then you got coaxed into it, ‘cause he was in your head and he just, yeah. Yeah, no confidence.” (*Video courtesy: MMAFightingonSBN’s The MMA Hour; H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Israel Adesanya returns in 2022, whereas Jake Paul faces Tyron Woodley this month.
Israel Adesanya is a Nigerian-born New Zealander who spends a significant amount of his time training in New Zealand. He’s competed twice in 2021 thus far. However, as revealed by his coach, Adesanya’s unlikely to fight again until 2022 due to COVID-related travel restrictions enforced by the New Zealand government.
As for Jake Paul, he’s 1-0 in 2021. ‘The Problem Child’ is set to fight again this year. Paul is scheduled to face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a professional boxing match on August 29th, 2021.
