With a boxing bout against Mike Tyson on the schedule for November, Jake Paul wants to make his MMA debut beforehand at UFC 303 and took aim at bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.
Paul was originally set to face Tyson in the boxing ring on July 20, but due to a medical issue with the boxing legend, the fight was rescheduled for Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In the meantime, Paul may be looking to stay busy by stepping into the cage for his first MMA fight, and is aiming at a UFC champion, albeit a much lighter one, for a crossover bout between the UFC and PFL later this month at UFC 303.
“100% will kill Omalley in MMA,” Paul wrote on X. “He’s a small man. PFL Vs UFC June 29th.”
O’Malley, who fights at 135 pounds, is the current UFC bantamweight champion. Paul is preparing for a heavyweight bout against Tyson, and weighed in at 200 pounds for his last fight against Ryan Bourland in March.
Last January, Paul signed a multifight contract with the PFL to compete in MMA for their Super Fight pay-per-view events.
In May, PFL CEO Pete Murray told MMA Junkie the promotion expected Paul to make his MMA debut in 2025 following the fight against Tyson. However, that was before the delay due to Tyson’s health, and Paul apparently has other plans now.
While there is a near-zero percent chance Paul would face O’Malley inside the octagon, or anyone at UFC 303 for that matter, there is a possibility that the YouTuber-turned-boxer could make his MMA debut against someone near his weight under the PFL banner.
UFC 303 is currently experiencing uncertainty with its main event, as pessimism about the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight taking place grows as the event rapidly approaches.
PFL is hosting 2024 PFL 6 on June 28, a day before UFC 303, but considering how the promotion has previously spoken about how they intended to handle Paul’s debut inside the cage, that move seems unlikely.
