Jake Paul’s boxing career is built on a simple formula: call out MMA fighters, mock them into a frenzy, and cash the check. Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett are just the next two in line. Earlier this year, before the Brit lost his interim lightweight title fight to Justin Gaethje at UFC 324, Paddy Pimblett had called out ‘The Problem Child’ for a crossover boxing match for the right amount of money. And as Paul often does, he quickly responded with an offer.

Paul offered to fly him out to Puerto Rico in his private jet and even offered him a million dollars for a sparring match. However, nothing came out of it. Ilia Topuria found himself in a somewhat similar situation during a livestream with Adin Ross. After he insulted Paul’s boxing, the YouTuber-turned-boxer called in, and they had a back-and-forth before agreeing to spar. But even that doesn’t appear to have happened, as Paul recently mocked them both.

“I think a lot of these guys, and I’ve proven it time and time again with the best strikers from MMA… I beat them pretty easily at an earlier point in my career,” Paul told Matt Welty during an interview with Complex. “They say they can beat me in boxing or whatever this stuff they’re saying is, is like a joke to me. I just want someone to get in there with me.

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“I tried to send a jet to Paddy Pimblett. I was going to give him a million dollars, and then it’s just radio silence. I’m guessing it’ll be the same with Topuria. When they’re on the livestream, say, ‘I’ll do it right now. Let’s do it.’ And then when it goes to happen, it just doesn’t come to fruition. And we will see. In a boxing match, that’s honestly a warm-up for me.

“All jokes aside, if we did MMA, he would probably win. But let’s find out the truth. That’s what’s great about the sport… It would be like playing with a little toy. I’m not even kidding. And also, [Topuria]’s like 5’5″. If we were the same weight, he’s a good striker. Same height, it would probably be closer. I would still beat him, but he can’t even ride roller coasters. The guy is tiny.”

It’s no secret that Jake Paul isn’t the most polished boxer despite his own claims. Much of his resume has been built against aging or out-of-prime opponents, mostly from MMA, and whenever he’s faced a truly capable boxer, he’s come up short. Clear examples include his losses to Tommy Fury and Anthony Joshua. That said, those defeats don’t erase the progress he’s made or the accomplishments he’s achieved in a relatively short time.

‘The Problem Child’ has, after all, defeated every former MMA fighter he’s faced—names like Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, and Mike Perry. While it’s fair to argue that some of these fighters were past their prime, they still brought significantly more combat experience into the ring than Paul. Even so, the fundamental truth remains: boxing and MMA are entirely different sports, requiring different skill sets.

While Pimblett and Topuria have been vocal, they aren’t the only MMA stars who have called out Jake Paul for a fight, with Sean Strickland also entering the fray.

Jake Paul claims he is open to fighting Sean Strickland

In June last year, Sean Strickland was coming off a rematch loss to Dricus Du Plessis. And while he was waiting around for his next bout, during a KICK livestream with Adin Ross, he went on an X-rated rant about wanting to beat up Jake Paul.

While that hasn’t happened yet, Jake Paul says he is open to it. And he also acknowledged that fighting Strickland would be much trickier since he is a bigger guy, but that wouldn’t ultimately change the outcome.

“Sean would definitely be a harder boxing match than Topuria,” Paul said.  “But again, [it would still] be easy. Completely open to it.”

However, Paul claimed there’s a huge problem with such fights, which makes even talking about them a waste of time.

“These guys are under contract, and they’re not going to let them out to do these fights, which is unfortunate.” 

Paul urged UFC fighters to follow Francis Ngannou’s example and get out of their contracts with the promotion.

“Now he’s fighting for MVP MMA, making more than the whole UFC roster combined.”

That being said, it appears Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria may have to continue eating their own words until they actually get in the ring with Jake Paul. For now, with the fighters locked into their UFC contracts, Paul’s taunts remain unanswered, leaving the question of his boxing prowess against active MMA stars purely hypothetical.