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Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley, the former long-term UFC welterweight kingpin, is drawing near. At a glance, most would expect an esteemed mixed martial artist to wipe the floor with a Disney channel star and vlogger. However, nothing with either Paul or Woodley is that simple right now.
At a professional level, Jake Paul has never fought a professional boxer. The three opponents he's taken on have all lost to him rather handily. Most recently, he knocked out Ben Askren in round one. The days of Askren being seemingly unbeatable were suddenly even further away than his five-second loss at UFC 239 made them.
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Tyron Woodley, meanwhile, has seen better days in his fighting career. The 39 year-old has not won a fight since Kamaru Usman took the welterweight title from him at UFC 235.
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Despite the slump he finds himself on, Woodley has received support and hype from the majority of the MMA community. There are, however, a select few who believe Woodley's losing ways are about to get a whole lot worse. Here are five UFC fighters past and present who believe Jake Paul is set to go 4-0.
#5. UFC lightweight fighter Jeremy Stephens
Jeremy Stephens recently returned to the UFC after a 14 month lay-off. Sadly for the lightweight knockout artist, he was unable to break his three year skid. ‘Lil Heathen’ fell to Mateusz Gamrot via submission in the first round when his foe locked in a kimura.
Interestingly, the man with the second most knockdowns in UFC history (18, tied with Anderson Silva) sees a similar run of bad luck for Tyron Woodley. When asked by James Lynch for his prediction, Stephens, while praising Woodley’s wrestling ability, earmarked Paul for the win:
“Jake Paul, Jake Paul bro- yeah, yeah, you know Woodley’s a wrestler at heart bro. He’s got power and I feel like that’s kind of where he went wrong and uh, he’s- he’s got those double legs man. In an MMA fight bro, Woodley all f***ing day but he’s a wrestler at heart man.”
Stephens elaborated further that Paul possesses a respectable level of talent and is training extensively. He also commented on Paul’s size advantage and the current media hype surrounding him. In conclusion, Stephens stated:
“You don’t want to lose to the Disney kid bro but the Disney kid is good, you know? And he’s- we haven’t seen him in deep waters and we’ve seen Tyron in deep waters you know? So I gotta go 500 bucks Jake Paul.”
#4. Former UFC welterweight fighter Dan Hardy
Dan Hardy ceased fighting for the UFC in 2012. His inactivity in the years since stems from his 2013 Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome diagnosis. Hardy has avoided treatment for the rare heart condition on the grounds that he has never suffered any setbacks from it.
Since then, Nottingham’s premier taekwondo-based cage fighter has made his money as a commentator and analyst. He did so for the UFC for years and more recently has been working at BT Sport among others. During a recent discussion with John Fury and Viddal Riley, Hardy revealed he’s got his money on Jake Paul later this month.
Initially acknowledging that the MMA community would be unhappy with his views, Hardy went on to explain his logic:
“My concern of Tyron Woodley’s gas tank; this is eight rounds. He’s going in there against the guy who’s had three pro fights. Of course, he’s not been fighting world beaters but this- this is Tyron coming towards the end of his competitive career stepping in there with ego, with anger, against a young kid that’s got some experience.”
Woodley has not fought since his UFC 260 loss to Vicente Luque in March. He has not won a fight since his Brabo choke submission victory over Darren Till at UFC 228 in September 2018. With this in mind, Hardy’s comments on Woodley being at the tail end of his career, and likely well past his athletic prime, make sense.
Hardy further acknowledged Jake Paul’s strength and athleticism as key factors. ‘The Outlaw’ does not see Woodley falling by way of knockout the way Ben Askren did. Instead, he believes a Jake Paul decision victory is the most likely result.
#3. Current Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi
Gegard Mousasi fought for the UFC between 2013 and 2017. The UFC is the only major promotion Mousasi has fought for and not won a championship in.
‘The Dreamcatcher’ is the current Bellator middleweight champion and is a former two-division (light heavyweight and middleweight) champion in DREAM, a middleweight champ in Cage Warriors and a light heavyweight champion in Strikeforce.
Often regarded as one of the most underrated former UFC fighters of the past 10 years, Mousasi is adamant that Jake Paul will beat Tyron Woodley. During an interview with Mirror Fighting, the Dutch kickboxing ace dismissed Woodley’s striking prowess, citing him as primarily a wrestler by trade.
Similar to Dan Hardy, Mousasi also cited Jake Paul’s size advantage heading into the bout:
“Who thinks that Tyron Woodley is going to win? It's obvious he's going to get knocked out. Woodley is not a boxer and he's a small guy.” H/t Mirror Fighting
Bellator’s middleweight ace complemented Jake Paul’s boxing skills as well. Beyond Woodley’s ferocious right hand, Mousasi has seen little striking skill from ‘The Chosen One’ over the years.
Treating a Jake Paul victory as a foregone conclusion, the always colorful Mousasi’s views go strongly against the vast majority in MMA right now. He asserted his view on a Jake Paul win in almost every interview he gave on the way to Bellator 264 earlier this month. Mousasi retained his gold against John Slater by third-round TKO at the event.
#2. Former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington
During a June interview with Helen Yee, UFC's most controversial loudmouth shared his thoughts on Woodley vs. Paul. Colby Covington had an infamous rivalry with Tyron Woodley leading up to their UFC Fight Night 178 clash.
The former ATT standout defeated Woodley via TKO due to a rib injury 'The Chosen One' sustained. Along with sharing his general hatred of Dustin Poirier and advertising an energy drink, Covington revealed he sees a Woodley loss on the horizon.
After brutally ripping on both men, Covington explained he does not see Woodley genuinely losing. Instead, UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman's nemesis believes Woodley will "take a dive":
"I know how struggling Tyron Woodley is for money, he's going to take a dive. It's going to be a work Helen, he's not really going to go fight Jake Paul. They're going to pay him a couple million dollars under the table, he's going to take a dive, take a fall and they're going to hype up this little 'Snake' Paul like he's some great fighter and great boxer."
Curiously, Covington has also opined a Woodley victory in other interviews, making his real thoughts, as always, a mystery.
#1. Current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya is one of the most prolific strikers in the promotion’s history. Interestingly, ‘The Last Stylebender’ does not have much faith in one of the promotion’s most prolific wrestlers. The middleweight kingpin was recently interviewed by Ariel Helwani for The MMA Hour.
When asked for his thoughts on the upcoming Woodley vs. Paul clash, Adesanya revealed he foresees a Paul victory:
“Jake most likely. Tyron’s just small. Yeah, and I mean, Tyron, on the trailer, they called him an expert striker. I’m like, since when? Expert striker, yeah, I was like, ‘Since the f**k when?’ He’s got a right hand that he, you know, looks for. So, when you have one thing to look for, it’s easier to avoid that. And, yeah, Jake’s big. Jake’s actually a good boxer. So, yeah, if I was gonna bet, I’d bet on Jake Paul.”
Similar to Mousasi, Adesanya believes Jake Paul's strength and respectable skill level will prove fruitful. Despite the power of Woodley's right hand, the anime enthusiast doesn't have much hope for the former welterweight ace's chances.
Adesanya went on to criticize the bet between Paul and Woodley that requires the loser to have the winner's name tattooed on them. UFC's kickboxing king believes Woodley was essentially bullied into taking it and that it's likely he will live to regret it come the 29th.
