JAKE PAUL & DANIEL CORMIER RESPOND TO THEIR UFC 261 ALTERCATION
Bristol, CN, (April 28th, 2021)-– Daniel Cormier was working in the booth with Joe Rogan as a UFC 261 commentator when it was brought to his attention that Jake Paul had just arrived, when the crowd started a F*ck Jake Paul” chant in Jacksonville, FL, Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Moments later, Cormier looked behind him at the YouTube star-turned-professional boxer and was taken aback by what he saw.
Daniel Cormier’s Statement
“He’s like making faces at me and waving at me,” Cormier said Monday on his “DC & Helwani” ESPN show.
“I’m like, what in the world is happening? What is happening? … This 24-year-old kid is heckling me. He’s heckling me. He’s like a troll but like a famous troll.”
Cormier said he knew right away that he would not tolerate Paul’s antics.
All he could think to himself was, “This guy’s being so ridiculous. I need to tell him something.”
So he asked his producers for a two-minute break before the pay-per-view went to air. Cormier didn’t give a reason, just that he needed two minutes to step away from the booth.
That’s when he walked towards Jake Paul.
“So I just walk over there, and he kind of leans in like we’re gonna have a conversation, and his hands are in his pocket,” Cormier said.
“I said, ‘Hey, I’m not gonna play your games. I go, ‘Don’t mess with me. I’m not a kid to play with like this. I’m not gonna be on the internet messing around and all this other stuff.’ I go, ‘Keep my name out of your mouth.’ Once the security and everybody got around, he started to play big boy a little bit, starts trying to point and do all that. But initially his hands are in his pocket and he kind of leans in.
“I said, ‘I’m not gonna play your game.’ I said, ‘You’re gonna get yourself hurt messing around. I’m not gonna fight with you and play these public shenanigans.’ I go, ‘Keep my name out of your mouth.’ He goes, ‘Well, you said my name first.’ Don’t play with me. I’m not a kid to be messing with like that.”
Jake Paul Responds
Jake Paul responded back and said he is not interested in fighting in MMA with Daniel Cormier, but is more than happy to step into the boxing ring with the former 2 time UFC champ.
During a conversation with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Tuesday, Jake Paul made it clear he’s not going to agree to Cormier’s choice of ruleset. It’s boxing or nothing, he said, and explained the reason why.
“Of course he’s going to challenge me to an MMA fight,” Paul said. “Of course. But I find it funny because he’s challenging me to something I’ve never trained in, and he’s trained boxing and striking and standup and has been in there with Stipe (Miocic), Jon Jones. I mean, he lost those fights, but he’s been in there with the best of the best striking, so why not box? You want to go against me in something that I’ve never trained in before? Of course. That’s like me finding someone off the streets, literally who has never boxed a day in their lives, and being like, ‘OK, come in here, I’m going to challenge him.’”
“Of course he’s going to duck the boxing offer. And by the way, there’s way more money in boxing, so we would make more money in a boxing match. Again, I’m a boxer. I never said that I will beat Daniel Cormier in an MMA fight. If he comes and boxes me, I will beat him. Maybe a part of him knows that, which is why it’s funny. Why would he not accept that offer? If we fought, that would be the most amount of money that he will ever make in any of his fights, by far.”
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