Many news outlets and media members have gone easy on UFC’s president after he struck his wife in a New Year’s Eve dispute. But, surely Jake Paul won’t hold back?
While Dana White won’t receive any sort of sanction or official punishment from his business partners or higher-ups at Endeavor, he’s still dealing with the blows to his reputation after being caught on camera exchanging face slaps with his wife (watch it here). Every new interview with someone outside UFC, but in the orbit of mixed martial arts (MMA), is being asked what they think of White’s physical New Year’s Eve incident with the mother of his children, Anne White.
Now, Jake Paul is sharing his thoughts, although he’s not going as hard at UFC’s president as some might expect given their acrimonious relationship.
“I know he had his whole situation, but I don’t really need to kick people when they’re down,” Paul told Sun Sports during a media blitz for his upcoming fight against Tommy Fury on Feb. 26, 2023. “What he did speaks for itself and I’ve always said I don’t think he’s a good person: look how he treats these fighters.”
Instead of focusing on the violent interaction White had with his wife, Paul instead focused on UFC’s low fighter pay.
“I don’t know about the fans, the feud between Dana and I has been a lot of hype and it draws a lot of media,” he said. “And there’s been a bunch of s—t talked back and forth, but my main thing is getting the fighters paid more. Raising the fighter minimum to $50,000 whereas it’s at $12,000 now, getting them long-term healthcare. That’s what it’s mainly about.”
At the start of 2023, Paul announced a partnership with the Professional Fighter’s League where he’d become an ambassador for its “Super Fight Division,” where fighters would receive at least 50 percent of pay-per-view (PPV) revenue generated off their fights. That’s a pretty good deal compared to UFC, where fighters start earning a few dollars per $79.99 PPV … after that PPV sells its first couple 100,000 units.
It’s still somewhat surprising that Paul decided to gloss over White’s incident. The younger Paul brother has never shied away from firing controversial accusations at White, calling him a cocaine addict (which there is no public evidence of) and unfaithful (which there is … sorta). It may just be the timing: his brother Logan Paul is in the middle of some sort of big deal announcement with UFC, which is set to be made today (full details here).
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