NEW YORK (AP) — Jake Paul, the YouTube megastar influencer, has set his sights on mixed martial arts and signed a deal with the Professional Fighters League.
Paul has signed with PFL to compete in a new Super Fight division that is scheduled to include fights on pay-per-view. The 25-year-old Paul is 6-0 as a professional boxer. He has wins against former UFC champions Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva.
Paul also partnered with PFL on Thursday to co-create a new 50-50 revenue partnership model for all PPV fights. The YouTuber also been named head of fighter advocacy, helping to promote the series and recruit more stars to the Super Fight division. The PFL PPV Super Fights are stand-alone events separate from the PFL League Season. PFL said it would stage two PPV Super Fights in 2023, scaling to more PPV events in following years.
PFL didn’t say when Paul would make his debut. Terms of the deal were not announced
“I’ve proven myself in and out of the boxing ring and now I am going to do the same in MMA, and there is no limit to the positive impact I can make on the sport,” Paul said. “I plan to enter the PFL SmartCage and once again show the world that anything is possible with hard work and dedication. Outside of the cage, equal fighter-pay and advocating for female fighters has been my passion, and I am aligned with PFL to evolve the sport. I believe in PFL, their mission, and what they have accomplished in a very short period of time.”
Paul has 21.5 million followers on Instagram and another 4.5 million on Twitter.
Unlike most combat sports promotions, the PFL competes in a season-long format that includes playoffs and championship fights. PFL has a TV deal with ESPN.
“I founded PFL to innovate, professionalize, and grow MMA, and we have done that with our disruptive sport-season format which put “fighters-first” as they control their own destiny,” PFL Chairman Donn Davis said. “Today, we begin our next phase of growth by disrupting the MMA pay-per-view market, with an unprecedented new model where fighters will be true 50-50 economic partners in PPV revenues.”
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
