Jake Paul warned “UFC doesn’t need him” amid fighter-pay row with Dana White

Paul and White have traded words since last year and UFC commentator Jon Anik has told the YouTube star the promotion “doesn’t need him”

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Jake Paul has been told the UFC doesn’t need him to fight their battles.

Paul has been embroiled in a feud with UFC president Dana White since the YouTube star knocked out Ben Askren last year, with the UFC boss being sceptical of the reported pay-per-view sales for the event.

Paul has criticised White for underpaying his fighters and even vowed to retire from boxing if White improved conditions for the athletes.

The UFC boss ignored Paul’s challenge and accused him of taking performance-enhancing drugs to help his newfound boxing career.

And commentator Jon Anik thinks the UFC doesn’t need Paul’s involvement because they are the “combat sports leader”.

“I think Dana White probably respects him enough that he engaged in any sort of back and forth with Jake Paul. But we just don’t need him,” he told DAZN.

“We are not just the MMA leader. As humbly as I can say this as a guy whose check is cut by the promotion, we are the combat sports leader right now. UFC pay-per-views have never been as anticipated as they are right now.

“So while it disappoints me that maybe we haven’t sent in the right boxer, like Jorge Masvidal to maybe humble Jake Paul a little bit, I’m happy that he’s realised millions, and I’m happy with where the UFC is.

“I just don’t think they need each other. But I think it has been saged the way Jake Paul has sort of leveraged mixed martial arts to his advantage.”

White has refused to work with Paul or his brother Logan in the past, but recently didn’t rule out the possibility of Paul fighting in the UFC.

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It comes after Paul, who improved to 5-0 in boxing last year, brought forward his plans to compete in MMA as he hopes to make his debut this year.

Anik, who has self-admittedly enjoyed Paul’s rise in combat sports, thinks the 25-year-old is smart by using the UFC to his advantage

“I certainly think that Jake Paul is using mixed martial arts and the UFC to his ultimate advantage,” he added.

“I have to say, as a boxer and as a promoter, I really have enjoyed a lot of what Jake Paul has done. I’ve heard from a lot of people in his camp about just how hard he works. He’s bringing in the right people. He’s putting in the right work.

“He seems to be a genuinely good guy in terms of some of his initiatives and his efforts to try to help the masses. That is not falling on a deaf ear with me.”