Jake Paul Wants To Fight Ex-UFC Star Francis Ngannou, Believes He Can Knock Him Out
Jake Paul wants to bounce back from his knock-out loss to Anthony Joshua in December with Francis Ngannou among the names under consideration. Furthermore, Paul thinks he can knock the former UFC Heavyweight Champion out.
Paul has a 12-2 record in boxing with wins over a 58-year old Mike Tyson, Nate Diaz, Tyron Woodley, and Ben Askren. His losses came against Tommy Fury, younger brother of the former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury, via Split Decision in 2023 and via sixth round TKO to Joshua in December.
During the latter of which, Paul had his jaw broken in two places and has since been suspended indefinitely by the Florida Athletic Commission until he can demonstrate he is safe to return. While he is out, his role in the fight business continues with Most Valuable Promotions hosting its first MMA event in May, headlined by Gina Carano versus Ronda Rousey.
Ngannou will be fighting on that card against Philipe Lins, making his comeback to MMA after fighting just once with PFL in 2024. Ngannou has also boxed twice since leaving UFC in 2023, losing via Split Decision to Tyson Fury and then via second-round knock-out to Joshua. And Jake Paul fancies himself as someone who could extend that winless run for the never-defeated UFC Heavyweight Champion.
"I'm definitely going to keep on fighting, we will see how my jaw continues to heal up. I would say there's a long list of opponents, I think most recently Francis Ngannou was talking a lot of smack, I think that's an easy fight for me," he told Sky Sports.
He continued, "I think he's a terrible boxer, it made me want to go back up to heavyweight and knock him out like Joshua did, and render him unconscious."
"Francis Ngannou is an easy fight for me, he's a terrible boxer" 👀
Jake Paul looks at his boxing plans for the future following his previous fight against Anthony Joshua, and is eyeing up Francis Ngannou as his next opponent 🥊 pic.twitter.com/WHk5yYqYZw
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) March 23, 2026
Paul pointed out the fact he lasted longer in his fight with Joshua than Ngannou had. And then he said that he doesn't know if Ngannou would take the fight because he would not want to get embarrassed.