If Jake Paul is going to continue taking jabs at mixed martial artists, Demetrious Johnson says he should jump in the cage.
The former UFC flyweight champion is venturing into a new world himself when he takes on muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a hybrid MMA/muay Thai bout Saturday at ONE X in Singapore.
Paul, a YouTube sensation-turned pro boxer, has exceeded expectations since lacing up the gloves, knocking out former MMA champions Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley. But Paul recently has teased a move to MMA, something Johnson thinks needs to happen if he really wants to challenge himself.
“If Jake Paul thinks he’s so f*cking bad at boxing and all that stuff, hats off. You’re 3-0, 4-0 as a boxer,” Johnson told MMA Junkie. “Do f*cking mixed martial arts. I did an interview the other day and I was like, “Everybody is worried about fighting this person, let’s see how much money I can make from this person.” I was like, “Just do mixed martial arts.” You think you’re that great, just do it. If I thought I was a badass boxer, I would be like, “Let me just box.” Even when they offered this fight to me, it’s Rodtang. I was like, “I’ll fight in muay Thai.”
“I don’t give a f*ck. What’s the worst thing that could happen? I get knocked out? OK. I go back home, train, get ready for the next one. If I win, what’s gonna happen? I go home, go get ready for the next one. So, for me, I could say I did it, I tried. As you get older, you find that you don’t knock people for trying. For me, when someone is like, ‘Ah blah, blah, blah, you MMA guys suck.’ It’s like, ‘Then come do it.’ If you’re successful, good job. You lose, you tried it.”
Johnson’s bout with Rodtang is scheduled for two rounds of Muay Thai and two rounds of MMA.
The first and third rounds will be contested under Muay Thai rules, while the second and fourth will be fought under MMA rules, with each round duration set at three minutes.
