Jake Paul’s team claims he is locked in discussions with pound-for-pound king Oleksandr Usyk over an MMA fight in 2026.
‘The Problem Child’ joined the PFL in 2023 and was mooted to make his MMA debut at the back end of the year.
Usyk vs Paul is a possibility for 2026A rematch with Nate Diaz in the PFL Smart Cage was expected to come first.
However, the fight never came to fruition.
Since then, Paul has focused his attention solely on boxing, where he has built up an 11-1 professional record.
His next assignment comes against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on 28 June in California.
After which, Paul is eyeing up his long-awaited MMA debut against the future first ballot Hall of Famer.
“Yeah, I want to be like Holly [Holm] here and test my skills in the cage,” he said while standing next to the former UFC bantamweight champion, who famously knocked out Ronda Rousey.
“That’s something I’m super, super interested in, and I think it would be a very, very big spectacle.
“Nate Diaz is still ducking, but we would need to find the right opponent. [Oleksandr] Usyk, maybe.
“I haven’t started any MMA training, so it would definitely be interesting, but we are looking at 2026 for that as a possibility.”
Paul’s manager, Nakisa Bidarian, then confirmed that he is talking to Usyk’s team about the crossover clash, which would hands down represent Paul’s toughest test to date.
Paul is technically a PFL fighter – even though he’s never fought in MMAPFL Paul beat Tyson in front of a massive Netflix audience in 2024 and is eyeing up another titan of the heavyweight divisionGetty Fury suffered back-to-back defeats to Usyk in 2024 having previously been undefeated“Usyk has called out Jake multiple times in MMA,” said Bidarian.
“They’ve been in touch with us behind the scenes, saying they want to do that fight in 2026.
“So it’s something that we definitely want to pursue.”
This comes after Usyk’s coach and business partner, Sergey Lapin, said last year: “Usyk has always cared only about fighting the best and creating a lasting legacy in the great sport of boxing.
“But in the future, as he further solidifies his place as one of the true great fighters, we’ll see what other opportunities open up for him.
“It might be great to step into the cage with Jake Paul under MMA rules, it would be interesting if there is money to be made from it.”
Paul beat Mike Tyson in his last fight, but has also lost to Tommy Fury, while Usyk has handed Tyson Fury his first losses and also beat Anthony Joshua twice to cement his place as one of boxing’s greatest of modern times.
The unified heavyweight champion recently told talkSPORT.com that he has two fights left in his professional boxing career.
His penultimate bout is set for July 17 against Daniel Dubois for the undisputed heavyweight titles.
He will then be ordered to make a WBO mandatory defence against Joseph Parker in the final outing of a legendary career.
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