Jake Paul once joked about fighting Ronda Rousey in old video before his boxing debut

The hype surrounding Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano is already ramping up fast. Their first announcement video has pulled in more than 7 million views on Instagram within just a few hours.

A clip posted on the Most Valuable Promotions Instagram page shows Jake Paul taking a video call with Rousey, marking their first meeting, even if it was only virtual. The boxer is currently in Italy for the Winter Olympics, where his girlfriend Jutta Leerdam has already picked up two medals.

During the chat, Paul mentioned how much of a fan he’d been over the years and Rousey responded by saying she was looking forward to meeting him as well. MVP’s social team then found an old clip from years ago to highlight that connection, cutting it together with their call.

Paul told her: “Me, Logan [Paul] and our dad were like your biggest fans. We actually started doing some judo because you inspired us.” She smiled at that and said she could help him out if he ever wanted to get back into training.

Jake Paul once called out Ronda Rousey in an old video from his YouTube days

A video resurfaced from Jake Paul’s early YouTube days shows him calling out Ronda Rousey. He was still a Disney actor at the time, and both he and his brother Logan were just starting to blow up online by posting daily vlogs.

“Ronda, if you ever watch my videos I will fight you and put it on video,” a young Paul joked. “I actually used to do MMA and I know you’d probably whoop me, but it would still be a good video so Ronda if you’re out there, let’s fight.”

Paul didn’t get into boxing until 2018 but has since fought several big names from the MMA world. He stopped Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley early in his career before wins over Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, and most recently Mike Perry.