{"id":963309,"date":"2026-05-16T07:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/963309\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T07:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:15:18","slug":"oleksandr-usyk-makes-u-turn-on-jake-paul-fight-after-entering-negotiations-over-mma-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/963309\/","title":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk makes U-turn on Jake Paul fight after entering negotiations over MMA debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oleksandr Usyk has poured cold water on a potential crossover clash with Jake Paul.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both men faced off in the ring at Wembley Stadium in July<\/a> after Usyk knocked out Daniel Dubois<\/a> to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n

\"Jake<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Paul and Usyk were in talks to face each other in MMA, a sport neither man has ever competed inCredit: Instagram – Jake Paul <\/p>\n

The pair verbally agreed to meet each other in an MMA bout, and there were genuine talks, according to Paul’s manager and business partner Nakisa Bidarian.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, Usyk has now declared that the fight is no longer possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know because Jake (is) my friend now,\u201d Usyk told The Associated Press about the possibility of fighting the YouTuber-turned-boxer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Jake, (a) fight is not possible, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON BOXING <\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether Paul will ever fight again in the aftermath of his knockout loss to Anthony Joshua<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n

‘The Problem Child’ had his jaw broken in two places and subsequently underwent surgery to have titanium plates fitted and teeth removed. <\/p>\n

Broken jaws usually take between three and 12 months to fully heal, but Paul has run into complications that have resulted in him going under the knife for a second time.<\/a><\/p>\n

Paul even suggested that he may be forced to retire as a result of the injury. <\/p>\n

The end of the road for Jake Paul?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting some new scans here in a couple of days of the jaw to get an update on the healing process,” Paul said during a recent appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ll see what my doctors say. I think I\u2019ll be able to get a more accurate timeframe, or can I even fight again? <\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Paul needed surgery to correct his mangled jaw and may never fight againCredit: AFP<\/p>\n

“That is definitely in the realm of possibilities of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does feel a lot better as weeks go by and time goes by. <\/p>\n

“But I definitely need to get cleared first to be able to spar, but I am sort of staying in shape.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m always in the gym pretty much regardless. Just staying in shape and enjoying some mitt work.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost definitely [there’s a chance I can\u2019t fight again].<\/p>\n

“I think it just depends on how the bone heals, and then also, there\u2019s a tooth missing here that I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019m going to have to get an implanted tooth of some sort.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t know how much time that\u2019s going to add to things. <\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n

“But we just have to see and figure out what the smartest thing is for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Boxing on DAZN<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue<\/p>\n

Sign up to DAZN<\/a> to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.<\/p>\n

Upgrade to DAZN Ultimate<\/a> from just \u00a324.99\/month, guaranteeing access to 185+ fights annually, a minimum of 12 pay-per-views at no extra cost, as well as every Lega Serie A match and other elite football access.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, DAZN Standard<\/a> is just \u00a315.99\/month, with the caveat you will have to pay for pay-per-view events.<\/p>\n

Click here to sign up<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk has poured cold water on a potential crossover clash with Jake Paul. Both men faced off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":963310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[1935,4496,17819,12138,809,5122,79,47583,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-963309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-boxing-news","10":"tag-jake-paul","11":"tag-mma-news","12":"tag-negotiations","13":"tag-oleksandr-usyk","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-talks","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116583027953943343","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=963309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/963310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=963309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=963309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}