Michael Bisping isn’t ruling out a return to fighting Jake Paul.
Over the weekend, Paul shot at Bisping and said the UFC Hall of Famer was on his “hit list” of future opponents, sparking a back-and-forth between the two on social media. As interest in this potential fight began to mount, Bisping posted a video on his YouTube page that answers the all-important question: Will he fight Jake Paul?
“So, do I want to fight Jake Paul?” Bisping said. “Listen, here’s the thing, I’ve had a great career. I am very happy with what I have achieved. I am happily retired. I’m very, very happy in retirement. But I miss the thrill of competition — and I don’t necessarily see Jake Paul as a threat. I retired from the fight because I only had one eye and didn’t want to risk my other eye. In boxing, bigger gloves, against Jake Paul, I don’t really see him as a threat. Jake Paul, beating you up sounds like fun.
“Of course you’re a big star and God bless you, all the best to you. i don’t hate Well done to you, you’ve done great things, all jokes aside because I’m kinda kidding. You’ve done a great job, you’re making a lot of money, you’re a big star, you get a lot of pay-per-views and stuff like that. For that reason, I probably would. I probably would, but we’ve stayed here before. He sent an email to [Bisping’s manager] Audie Attar, Paradigm Sports Management, or his manager asked if I would fight him and offered $500,000. I said double it, add pay-per-view, and we’ll see where we go. Haven’t even gotten an answer yet. So he does the same thing again here.”
Paul’s representative, Nakisa Bidarian, previously confirmed that Paul and his team Bisping made an offer before Paul’s fight with Ben Askren but couldn’t come to an agreement and the reality is that even now a fight between the two faces significant hurdles would stand. After retiring from MMA in 2018, Bisping revealed that he was blind in one eye and had spent years bypassing the athletic commissions so he could keep fighting. As a result, Bisping notes that he might find it difficult to get a boxing license in the United States, but if Paul is up for a little trip, they could certainly find a place to record this proposed fight.
“This fight will never happen, but I’ll tell you what, Jake, if you want to prostrate yourself, if you want to step into the square circle with me, I will obey. I’ll do it,” Bisping said. “That sounds like fun. It gives me a reason to train to get in shape – give me a few months [to] Lose a few pounds and let’s go baby! No problem. The only thing is, I’m not being sanctioned. I doubt any of the sports commissions would let me now because I used to lie about my eye, but now the secret is out. The cat is out of the bag. But there are many places where they don’t care, many places where they don’t give that much. What about Dubai? Dubai seems to host many fights. Let’s go to Dubai. What about an Indian reservation? No problem there. Many countries in Europe, Africa, China – the world is at our feet. There are not sports commissions everywhere. I’m pretty sure we could find a place to throw down.”
It seems Bisping is laughing at Paul, at least in part, for having the audacity to challenge him despite being 18 years Paul’s senior, retired and physically challenged. Still, Bisping seems keen to do him the favor – as long as Paul means it himself.
“So yes, there it is. am i kidding Little bit. am i serious Maybe a little,” Bisping said. “If you’re serious, if you want to do it, send an email. You’ve done it before. Ask your manager to email me. I don’t want to fight – I don’t want to. I’m very happy in retirement and to be honest this whole thing is beneath me but it arouses a lot of interest and I think I would arouse a lot of interest against him. I’m not saying I want to fight Jake Paul because that would be kind of pathetic. But it just made me think.
“Jake, good luck with what you’re doing, just call someone your own size. Tommy Fury. That should be the fight. … You are a young man, you are in your prime – fight a young man in his prime. If you want to fight a 43-year-old man with one eye and no knees, hey bro, let’s go. Submit location. send contract. Instead of just talking about the Teddy Atlas podcast, broadcast something.”