Jake Paul vs. Sean O’Malley – Will It Happen?

Originally posted on BoxingNews.com | Last updated Jun 15, 2024 9:50 AM ET

Fans have been wondering whether an MMA fight between Sean O’Malley and Jake Paul will happen.

The two have been building up a potential fight for the future. O’Malley offered himself as a replacement on the UFC 303 card and fight Paul as doubts emerged about Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler. Since then, the fight has been pulled, as Alex Pereira will rematch Jiri Prochazka. The fight is unlikely for several reasons. Dana White has previously rejected working with the PFL. He refused to do a co-promotion event to make Jon Jones vs Francis Ngannou arguably one of the biggest fights in MMA. That makes an O’Malley-Paul fight less likely.

White and Paul are also not on good terms. Paul has accused White of underpaying his fighters, with White alleging Paul uses steroids. To top things off, the weight difference is huge. O’Malley is the UFC Bantamweight Champion, who fights at 135 pounds.

Meanwhile, Paul is a cruiserweight who will go up to heavyweight to box Mike Tyson. That makes it difficult to set a catchweight. However, that did not prevent the two from hyping up a fight. The following clip shows a face-off, with the two teasing a possible future fight.

Paul did sign a deal with the PFL last year. However, he has not made his debut. He has been linked with several names. He offered Nate Diaz a $10 million offer to fight him in MMA under the PFL. The offer was made after Paul beat Diaz in a unanimous decision during their boxing bout last year. O’Malley has also been linked with fighting boxers in MMA.

Ryan Garcia has claimed he would beat O’Malley even in the Octagon as suggestions over a potential fight arose. But given Garcia is dealing with two failed VADA tests for Ostarine, any chances of him getting into a fight soon are slim until he clears his name. O’Malley has said he is opening to boxing, too, having called out Gervonta Davis and Garcia. A boxing fight with Paul looks likelier, with O’Malley admitting that fights can be made if the money is right.

“A boxing fight’s possible, for sure. I’m not there yet. I’ve still got to become bigger. Two more…sick performances, then we’re talking about being able to do it. They told me, ‘You can do a boxing fight, 100 percent, if it makes us enough money. The option is there. It just has to be able to make enough money. But Ryan being a…freak like that, you need two A-sides to make a ..Floyd vs. Conor fight,” O’Malley said

The risk for Paul is that he comes up short and gets beaten badly, damaging his brand. He has said his aim is to become a world champion in boxing. A defeat to O’Malley or in his upcoming fight with Mike Tyson does nothing to take him closer to that dream. While it will generate big paydays, Paul must ask himself what his motivation is for taking these fights.

This article first appeared on BoxingNews.com and was syndicated with permission.

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