American Cleveland boxer Jake Paul challenged Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira to the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) bare-knuckle boxing ring after defeating Mike Perry.
“Alex Pereira, you said you wanted to box, I’m the king. Come on, we can make it happen. I want you Alex Pereira,” said Paul from the ring after defeating Perry as reported by Antara, Monday (22/7).
Paul knocked out Perry in the sixth round of a BKFC bout in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday (7/20).
Paul was due to fight Mike Tyson in November, but after that he already called for a fight against Pereira.
“I just beat the BKFC champion. I beat a lot of UFC champions. He said he wants to box. Alex Pereira, after Mike Tyson, let’s make it happen,” he said.
While he was still standing in the ring after defeating Perry, Paul actually connected with Pereira via a facetime call, where he asked the Brazilian and his manager if Pereira could terminate his contract with the UFC to make their meeting happen.
Also read: Tyson vs Paul Match Postponed Due to Mike Tyson’s Health Issues
He himself doubts that the UFC would terminate Pereira’s contract just to fight him, but the 27-year-old social influencer and boxing fan insists he is serious about the fight.
Paul explained the origins of the call at the post-fight press conference, which actually started after Anthony Joshua suggested that Pereira should make the transition from MMA to boxing in the future.
He explained that when asking that (during facetime) Pereira had to stop for a moment and look at his manager because according to him people like that are not their own boss.
Also read: Tyson Says Returning Against Jake Paul Was an Easy Decision
“At the end of the day, will Dana (UFC boss Dana White) let him out? It’s too small a risk if I can embarrass his most highly touted number one fighter right now,” he said.
Regardless, Paul doubled down on his call as Pereira sits near the top of MMA’s pound-for-pound rankings following back-to-back KOs over Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka.
“I want all the MMA guys and I’ve beaten them all. Who’s next? He’s the current UFC king, so I want him. I’m going to dethrone him,” he said.
In his response to Paul through his Instagram account, Pereira showed that he did not blink at the call. He responded with the same fearsome enthusiasm he showed anyone who asked to fight him.
“Let’s do it,” Pereira said. (Z-6)
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