Jake Paul is a big dude. He walks around at over 90 kg, and his fists have put many a man to sleep inside the boxing ring. But everything is relative. And this last weekend, Jake Paul experienced that first hand as he was sandwiched between two of the biggest, scariest men on the planet: Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira.
The towering heavyweights will fight for the PFL Heavyweight championship at Mayadeen Venue in Riaydh, Saudi Arabia on October 19, 2024. Ngannou stands at 6’4 and weighs 124 kg; Ferreira stands at 6’8 and weighs 119 kg. That’s a lot of muscle.
So, ever the cocky, trash-talking competitor, what did Jake Paul have to say about standing between the two men on stage at the press conference in Washington DC?
“Those guys are terrifying,” Paul said. “That was my first time announcing a fight like that, and if they had started shoving each other, I would’ve ran off the stage. No way I was standing between that.”
Paul’s brother and professional wrestler, Logan Paul, recently competed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia under the WWE banner alongside Sami Zayn, and we asked Paul what he thought about Saudi Arabia as a potential new fight capital of the world.
“Saudi is amazing. They’ve done a great job with recent boxing matches, so it’ll be exciting to see what they do as they start putting on more and more MMA events.”
Ngannou himself is no stranger to Saudi, having competed in the KSA in his most recent boxing outings, against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua respectively. Despite coming up short in both bouts, Ngannou had nothing but love for the region, stating, “Saudi is amazing. What they do for the fans is unlike anywhere else in the world. I love competing there.”
Although Ngannou abandoned the MMA cage for some time to focus solely on boxing, when asked if he felt any ring rust returning to MMA training, he simply replied “It’s like riding a bike. I don’t feel rusty at all.”
However, the title of most dangerous man on the planet still falls on Jon Jones, current UFC heavyweight champion. Although Paul was quick to praise Jones, he also noted, “I would love it if Jon eventually fought Ngannou or Ferreira. I think these two guys are the best heavyweights on the planet right now, and to cement his legacy, Jon should fight the winner of this upcoming fight.”
Ngannou and Jones have long been rumoured to duke it out, but alas, that fight has never finalised for a variety of different reason, one being that Jones is signed to the UFC and cannot fight outside of his contract.
Renan Ferreira won the PFL Heavyweight Championship back in February 2024 by torching former UFC standout, Ryan Bader, in under 30 seconds. Facing Ngannou will undoubtedly be his toughest test to date.
Paul is still scheduled to face boxing legend Mike Tyson in the ring on November 15, 2024 in Texas. When asked what he thought about the matchup Paul said, “Despite his age, just take one look at his Instagram account. The guy is still terrifying and still has insane power. My mom is actually kind of nervous about me fighting him, and she’s always asking my team if this is a good idea, but I’m really excited for it. Mike even said that he wants the fight to be an actual fight rather than an exhibition match, and if he wants to do it, I’m down.”
Regarding a potential MMA matchup, Paul said, “When I make my MMA debut, I want it to be against a big name. I’m hoping for Nate Diaz, but we’ll see.” And when asked about the most impressive MMA fighters he’s competed against in the boxing ring, Paul said: “Skill wise, I was most impressed by Anderson Silva. The hardest hitters I’ve faced are either Tyron Woodley or Mike Perry. And the least impressive and the weakest puncher was Nate Diaz.”
Two big fights in October and November, and if Paul defeats Tyson, we’ll see if he finally steps over into the MMA cage. Paul is now signed to PFL, and will undoubtedly bring an onslaught of curious eyes to the rapidly growing MMA organisation, which may finally start to rival the UFC.
