Jake Paul’s MMA career seemingly over with no fights as fans react to ‘laughable’ PFL partnership

Jake Paul is reportedly no longer with the PFL.

YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul signed a deal to fight for the PFL in MMA three years ago, but his debut never came to fruition.

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Former PFL CEO Peter Murray told talkSPORT the American would fight for the promotion after boxing Mike Tyson in November 2024.

Paul previously offered Nate Diaz $15million for a rematch in MMA, but the UFC legend wasn’t keen on representing the PFL.

Instead, Paul went on to box Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Anthony Joshua, with clear ambitions to hold a professional world boxing title.

After constant debate over whether the 29-year-old would ever make his debut in the sport, including ‘serious talks’ with Oleksandr Usyk over a fight, esteemed MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has now cleared things up.

Jake Paul’s PFL affiliation ‘no more’

“What I’m hearing is that, whatever affiliation, business-wise or not, that Jake Paul and his team had with the PFL, I’m hearing that is no more,” Helwani reported on Wednesday.

Paul is one of the most talked-about names in combat sports, so it’s not surprising that the PFL used his name as an opportunity to leverage its platform.

Talks over getting Paul inside the cage may have been close, but the entire partnership has left a bitter taste among several members of the MMA world.

Fans respond to Paul’s PFL partnership

Responding to the news, one fan wrote on X: “‘Affiliation’ and it was literally just him putting on some PFL shorts.”

Another added: “No s***. Whoever believed Jake Paul would actually fight in a PFL match. Even a generous opponent is stupid. Even an MMA amateur would beat Jake Paul within two minutes. Stand up or wrestling.”

A third said: “Gotta be one of the dumbest and most meaningless things the PFL hyped up.”

PFL

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Others deemed it ‘laughable’ and ‘a poor attempt to compete with the UFC.’

PFL founder Donn Davis was always positive about making Paul’s first appearance in his promotion happen.

“Oleksandr Usyk vs Jake Paul in MMA Could Genuinely Happen at PFL. 2026 ideal for Usyk v Jake,” he wrote on X last year.

However, the news of Paul’s split with the promotion ironically comes on the same day Davis announced he is stepping down as chairman of the PFL.

“I care deeply about each employee, value highly every investor, respect greatly our fighters, and appreciate sincerely all our fans who supported this company – I gave you everything I’ve got,” Davis said in a statement on Wednesday.

With Davis now out of the picture, it seems entirely unlikely Paul will ever fight for the PFL, although, as represented by Paul’s own combat sports career, stranger things have happened.

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He is currently recovering from a double-broken jaw he sustained in his lucrative Netflix clash with Joshua last month and is expected to move back down to cruiserweight for his next fight.