Jake Paul isn’t done chasing big names—but this time, he’s setting his sights on one of the UFC’s most dangerous men.
According to Sports Illustrated, the 27-year-old fighter and social media mogul says he’s ready to step into the ring with Alex Pereira, though there’s one major obstacle keeping the matchup from happening: Dana White.
Paul was originally expected to face Gervonta “Tank” Davis on November 14 in a Netflix exhibition fight, but that event was scrapped after Davis was sued in a domestic violence case.
Still, Paul says the plan is to headline a new Netflix card before the end of the year, with potential December dates already being discussed. What he doesn’t yet have is an opponent—though he’s clearly aiming high.
Names like Ryan Garcia and Terence Crawford have been floated, but Paul claims Pereira’s camp has already shown interest. “His team is down,” he told ESPN. “The only thing preventing it is the UFC and if these guys can get out of their contracts to fight me. It would be a massive fight, and I know he’s down to make it happen.”
For context, Pereira isn’t just another name from the MMA world. The Brazilian powerhouse has collected UFC championships at both middleweight and light heavyweight, and before that, he dominated in Glory Kickboxing, where he was a world champion. He’s even logged a professional boxing match of his own—a knockout win in 2017—making the crossover less far-fetched than it sounds.
But Paul’s business partner Nakisa Bidarian says the real issue comes down to control. “If Dana White ever actually felt comfortable that one of his martial artists could beat Jake Paul, he would 100 percent endorse it,” Bidarian said. “Because no matter what Dana may say, there’d be nothing he would enjoy more than seeing Jake Paul lose.”
Paul has built his boxing career by taking on fighters who made their names in other combat sports, including Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren, Nate Diaz, and Anderson Silva.
One name he’s no longer chasing, though, is Conor McGregor. “He’s fried,” Paul told ESPN. “He’s not going to fight again.”