Jorge Masvidal claims that the UFC have banned him from boxing Jake Paul until he’s a free agent.
The 40-year-old fighter who goes by the moniker Street Jesus – due to his striking resemblance to Jesus Christ – has been incredibly vocal of his distaste for the YouTuber-turned-pugilist since he transitioned to the world of boxing four years ago. In that time, ‘Problem Child’ Paul has racked up a stellar 11-1 record, besting Masvidal’s UFC rivals including Nate Diaz, Ben Askren, Anderson Silva and Mike Perry.
Paul secured a unanimous decision victory over former heavyweight WBC, WBA and IBF boxing champion Mike Tyson on Friday evening at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – in a bout which some of the 70,000 fans watching live and direct will have wished that they stayed home and tuned in via Netflix.
Jake Paul accused of breaking fight rule to gain ‘huge advantage’ over Mike Tyson
Thousands exited the stadium early as Paul picked apart a 58-year-old Tyson over the course of eight rounds, before finally having his hand raised after a sub-par contest. And while Masvidal has previously claimed that he would “break” Paul if they ever went toe-to-toe, the seasoned veteran of combat sports says it’s not as simple as signing a contract and setting a date.
Speaking exclusively to Sportsbook Review ahead of Paul’s bout with Tyson, Masvidal said: “I’m full-time with the UFC, the UFC granted me permission to box outside the company, but one of the names that I wasn’t allowed to fight was Jake Paul. The reason is, he’s trashed the UFC brand too much, he’s disrespected Dana and Hunter too much, and he said things he shouldn’t have said, so the UFC said I’m one of their top sellers, why are we going to allow you to go make some money for this f*****g dweeb over here?
“So I’m not allowed to fight Jake until I’m done with my UFC career.” A product of the Ultimate Fighting Championship since 2013, Masvidal has enjoyed 22 fights with the promotion to date. Holding a professional mixed-martial arts record of 35 wins and 17 losses, ‘Gamebred’ has shared the Octagon with a number of the world’s toughest fighters, including Donald Cerrone, Darren Till, Colby Covington, Benson Henderson and Kamaru Usman.
And while he is most-well known for his record-breaking five-second knockout of Askren from 2019 – rushing out the gates with a well placed flying knee – the seasoned fighter appears to be slowing down in the world of MMA. Currently riding a four-fight losing streak with the UFC, Masvidal hasn’t fought under the company banner since his unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Burns last April.
Instead, he has turned his attention to the world of boxing with the UFC’s permission, fighting the aforementioned Diaz over the summer and ultimately losing via majority decision after ten hard-fought rounds. Elsewhere, Masvidal also launched his very own Gamebred FC and iKon FC promotions in April 2021 and January 2022 respectively.
