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Jake Paul targets 2027 for MMA debut

Published

3 weeks ago

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Jake Paul targets 2027 for MMA debut

Jake Paul insists he still plans to compete in MMA and now aims to make his debut under that rule set in 2027.

Following the announcement of his Most Valuable Promotions organization merging with PFL to form a new MMA powerhouse, Paul spoke to ESPN about the news and his own combat sports crossover aspirations. Paul has already carved out a name for himself in the world of boxing, going from famous internet personality to jumping into the ring with the likes of Mike Tyson, Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, and Anthony Joshua, the latter of whom handed Paul just his second defeat this past December.

According to Paul, it's only a matter of time until he makes the move from the ring to the cage.

“I've been trying to make it happen for a long time and it's really just come down to negotiations behind the scenes,†Paul said. “I'm going to go come back hopefully later this year into boxing and then looking to do MMA in 2027.â€

Paul's relationship with PFL actually began in 2023, when he signed a multi-year deal with the league. His role was unclear, though he used his platforms to promote the PFL while also stating his intention to compete in MMA. However, Paul's contract with PFL ended in 2026 with no fight ever having occurred.

Asked how boxing training compares to MMA training, Paul admitted he's yet to find out firsthand.

“I don't know, that's the funny part,†Paul said. “I've never even done a single day of MMA training. I have a wrestling background, I grew up Division-I Ohio wrestling in high school, but I've never actually said, ‘Hey, today we're training MMA.'

“So I'd imagine it's very similar to boxing. Intensive, taking a lot of punishment, the cardio, the non-stop two-a-days. The recovery is all probably pretty similar, but I'm going to have to split up the boxing, the kickboxing, the kicks, the jiu-jitsu, the wrestling, all into different training sessions and I've never done that before.â€

Until Paul actually straps on the MMA gloves himself, he's content to be one of the faces of the MVP-PFL merger. The inaugural MVP MMA event this past May, headlined by the returning Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, drew a massive number on Netflix, peaking at 17 million viewers for the main event.

Paul believes joining forces with the deep PFL roster sets MVP MMA up as legitimate competition for the UFC.

“I think it's a one-of-a-kind combat sports organization now with even more capital infused to continue to grow at the rate we have,†Paul said. “We've already set records with our fights, most-watched MMA event in U.S. history, most-watched boxing event, but now we have the PFL roster underneath us.

“Four hundred fighters when you combine both entities and just more infrastructure to grow everything and that's really why ‘1+1 = 3' here, why we decided to team up with PFL to really go and change the landscape and give fighters the opportunity to have the viewership and the big paydays and to go ahead and compete with the UFC head to head.â€

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MMA

UFC Sacramento ‘Hernandez vs. Rodrigues’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

24 minutes ago

on

August 22, 2026

By

UFC Sacramento ‘Hernandez vs. Rodrigues’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
UFC Sacramento coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The
event is also known as
UFC Fight Night 285.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Dayne Fox scores the round:

Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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Round 3

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The Official Result

Round 1

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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Round 2

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

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The Official Result

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MMA

Hiroba Minowa vs. Yuta Miyazawa, plus more added to ONE SAMURAI 3

Published

6 hours ago

on

August 21, 2026

By

Hiroba Minowa vs. Yuta Miyazawa, plus more added to ONE SAMURAI 3
Trending:

Arman Tsarukyan vs. Charles Oliveira 2 cancelled as Tsarukyan set for new UFC 331 fight
ONE Championship

A four-fight winning resume now meets a champion's pedigree when two contrasting career paths collide at ONE SAMURAI 3.

Hiroba Minowa meets Yuta Miyazawa in a strawweight MMA showdown when ONE SAMURAI 3 streams live from Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday, September 12.

Minowa has won four straight since establishing himself in the division, a stretch that includes a split decision over former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Alex Silva and a ninth-career submission finish of previously undefeated Karen Ghazaryan this past April, a performance that earned him a US$50,000 bonus.

Miyazawa arrives with a 17-fight winning ledger and a Pancrase Strawweight Championship captured this past March, extending his personal streak to three heading into his ONE Championship debut.

The matchup adds another entry to a resume already thick with numbers. Since making his promotional debut in 2020, Minowa has repeatedly been booked against top-five opposition, a run that includes two former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champions among his list of opponents.

Hiroba Minowa's record meets a fresh test

Hiroba Minowa's grappling pedigree makes this matchup a compelling puzzle, since Miyazawa's wins come from his hands rather than takedown defense, and his 17 professional victories carry real knockout power into a division where grappling has often decided the biggest nights. Minowa will look to test that gap early, given four of his ONE Championship wins have come by way of decision or submission rather than knockout.

Elsewhere on the card, Kosei Yoshida's 9-1 record and four-fight win streak run into Zhao Zhengdong's unbeaten 3-0 promotional slate in a flyweight kickboxing pairing that adds another compelling number to the night. Zhao's overall mark of 29-5 stands as the more battle-tested résumé between the two, even as Yoshida chases his tenth career victory on home soil in front of a crowd inside Yokohama Buntai that will be watching his first fight back from a decision setback.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

Manager blasts NSAC for withholding Paddy Pimblett's UFC 329 purse: 'This rule needs to be changed'

Published

9 hours ago

on

August 21, 2026

By

Manager blasts NSAC for withholding Paddy Pimblett's UFC 329 purse: 'This rule needs to be changed'
Trending:

Pros react after Islam Makhachev defeats Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330

Graham Boylan, the manager of Paddy Pimblett, has blasted the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Pimblett is coming off a 52-second submission win over Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 329. It was a solid win, and after the victory, he hopped over the cage to celebrate. However, the NSAC doesn't allow that, and now the commission is withholding his purse along with Max Holloway and Gable Steveson.

The three fighters will have disciplinary hearings at the Nevada State Athletic Commission's monthly meeting in Las Vegas, MMAJunkie revealed. After the hearings were revealed, MMAJunkie texted Boylan who confirmed it was due to hopping the fence, which he isn't pleased about.

“For the record, this rule needs to be changed,†Boylan wrote in a text message. “Yes, it's the fight game, and systems need to be in play to make it all work, but this rule does nothing to support that. It's 2026. Apply a little common sense.â€

The NSAC withholding fighters' purses for celebrating on the cage and going out of it does seem insane, and something Boylan hopes will change. It's unclear how much of Pimblett's purse was withheld, but Diego Lopes had $5,000 of his disclosed $100,000 show money withheld for scaling the cage at UFC 300 in April 2024. He ended up being fined $2,500 after the hearing.

Paddy Pimblett hopes to fight Ilia Topuria or Arman Tsarukyan

Although Pimblett is set for an NSAC hearing, he is already looking forward to his next fight.

Pimblett is hoping for a major fight next and is open to facing Ilia Topuria or Arman Tsarukyan, as he wants to be able to get into their heads.

“If I fight Ilia or Arman, I'm gonna absolutely rinse their lives. I'm gonna absolutely terrorize them,†Pimblett said on Green Light podcast. “But if I fight Max Holloway or Charles Oliveira I wouldn't, because I respect them and I like them. … Don't get me wrong, I respect Ilia, but we've had beef for years,†Pimblett said. “I think he's a little helmet. I'd love to fight him and give him shit. Arman Tsarukyan, I've got no respect for at all. He's just rich kid, who's daddy's a millionaire.â€

Pimblett is 24-4 as a pro and coming off the win over Saint Denis.

Who do you think Paddy Pimblett should fight next?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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