{"id":532104,"date":"2026-03-11T00:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T00:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/532104\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T00:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T00:06:07","slug":"jake-paul-issued-vicious-challenge-by-ngannou-march-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/532104\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Paul Issued Vicious Challenge By Ngannou March 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t \"Jake<\/a>DALLAS, TEXAS – AUGUST 5: L-R Jake Paul punches Nate Diaz in their 8-round main-event Cruiserweight bout at Paul vs Diaz at American Airlines Center on August 5, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. Photo by Alejandro Salazar\/PxImages\/Icon Sportswire BOXING: AUG 05 Paul vs Diaz EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon23080510301\t\t\t \t\t\t <\/p>\n

Jake Paul\u00a0<\/a>may be dipping his toes into the MMA pool for the first time as a promoter in two months, but one fighter on Most Valuable Promotions\u2019 maiden voyage into the cage wants more out of this endeavor after the event.<\/p>\n

On May 16, Francis Ngannou<\/a> (18-3 MMA) will make his return<\/a> to the sport after more than a year and a half out of action for a five-round heavyweight contest against Philipe Lins (18-5 MMA.) Although no championship will be at stake that spring Saturday, the fight already has bulletin board material written all over it.<\/p>\n

The Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins contest will pit two heavyweight champions against one another. Ngannou formerly held the UFC and PFL Super Fights Heavyweight Championships, while Lins took the PFL title at 265 in its 2018 season. Ngannou isn\u2019t just satisfied with fighting on a card promoted by Jake Paul.<\/p>\n

Francis Ngannou Eager to Box Jake Paul in Future<\/p>\n

Prior to making his 2024 comeback to MMA, Francis Ngannou turned to the world of boxing. Although his record in pugilism stands at 0-2 and he hasn\u2019t boxed since March of 2024, it was Ngannou\u2019s performance in the first boxing match of his career that impressed the WBC.<\/p>\n

In October of 2023, Ngannou fought Tyson Fury, losing by way of split decision, but he scored a knockdown<\/a> in the third round of an advertised 10 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That knockdown of Fury was a catalyst for Ngannou securing the No. 10 ranking from the WBC after the fight.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Jake Paul was in the audience for the Tuesday kickoff press conference for the May 16 MVP card headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, when a member of the assembled press asked a question of whether Francis Ngannou would eventually like to square off with \u201cThe Problem Child.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not interested in fighting Jake Paul,\u201d Francis Ngannou said to the crowd. \u201cI\u2019m interested in beating his ass, not fighting him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Paul Returns Fire<\/p>\n

Jake Paul was quick to offer a retort for the challenge issued by \u201cThe Predator.\u201d These two men have a history with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m down, I\u2019ve always been down,\u201d Jake Paul replied. \u201cYou were the option before Anthony Joshua and you ran like a duck, and I bet you didn\u2019t think I would last longer than you did with Anthony, either. You just know you get worked in boxing, and I would love to see it someday.<\/p>\n

As far as Jake Paul\u2019s recent form inside the squared circle of boxing is concerned, he last set foot in the ring six days before the Christmas holiday. In a highly-publicized main event from Kaseya Center in Miami on Netflix, he squared off against the aforementioned Anthony Joshua, being stopped inside the sixth round of a scheduled eight.<\/p>\n

Joshua scored four knockdowns all told against Paul that Friday night, including two knockdowns en route to the knockout victory in the sixth round.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts: Will Jake Paul vs. Francis Ngannou Happen?<\/p>\n

Jake Paul\u2019s exchange with Francis Ngannou at the MVP press conference Tuesday afternoon would make for excellent bulletin board material for a fight between them if it happens. Ngannou\u2019s response to the reporter\u2019s question of whether he\u2019s interested in battling Paul could surely be used in the promo.<\/p>\n

Whether or not this fight actually happens remains to be seen. Any decision on this potential fight will be made sometime after the May 16 MMA contest versus Lins at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA.<\/p>\n

Barring any major injuries suffered by Francis Ngannou, a boxing match with Jake Paul could very well have legs. If Ngannou fights Felipe Lins in May and doesn\u2019t take too much in the way of damage, anything is possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS, TEXAS – AUGUST 5: L-R Jake Paul punches Nate Diaz in their 8-round main-event Cruiserweight bout at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-532104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}