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Jake Paul Responds to Vitor Belfort's Challenge: MMA Fighters 'Cannot Box for S--t'

Joseph Zucker

Jake Paul sounds pretty lukewarm on the idea of fighting former UFC star Vitor Belfort.

With victories over Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley on his resume, Paul told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that experienced mixed martial artists such as Belfort "cannot box for s--t" (warning: video contains profanity):

Paul's comments come after Belfort called out the famous YouTuber over the weekend. Following a first-round TKO of Evander Holyfield, Belfort said he'd put $25 million on the table for a fight, and Triller co-founder Ryan Kavanaugh raised the figure to $30 million.

Paul still has to bridge quite a gap to put himself on par with the best boxers in the world. The 24-year-old has, however, successfully shown that boxing and MMA are two separate disciplines.

Speaking with Helwani in April, Askren explained how he "never took an overhand right in fighting," which was the punch that felled him against Paul. He also said he'd typically bait MMA opponents into throwing overhand rights since that was an easy blow to counter and land a takedown.

Of Belfort's 26 victories in MMA, 18 were by knockout or TKO, but that may not foreshadow a similarly fruitful run in boxing. And his dominant victory over a 58-year-old Holyfield doesn't count for much.

Based on Paul's dismissive tone to Helwani, the 44-year-old Brazilian may not have the opportunity to test his skills against the star at the top of his wish list.

   

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