Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping admitted that he was offered a fight against Jake Paul before the video blogger negotiated a fight with Ben Askren. According to Bisping, they even sent him a contract, but Michael refused to sign it.
“I got offered a contract. It wasn’t enough money. They made an offer and it was some decent cash. But, if I’m going to make a fool out of myself by boxing a YouTuber, then I’d want a bit more for that. I’m not going to come out of retirement, but that’s essentially free money to me. If the number was big enough, then I’d be a fool not to go and pick up that money, ” Michael Bisping said.
“But I wasn’t pursuing it. And I think if anything, I think Jake was very clever. I think he just used me to try and make it seem like he was looking for real challenges. Because we got sent an offer and we countered with more than double. And we never heard anything again, and then we got the news that he’s fighting Ben Askren. ”
Although Paul is criticized heavily by the combat sports community, Bisping praised him for being a smart businessman and knowing how to make money.
“Listen, good for Jake Paul. You can’t hate on the guy. Everyone is trying to get ahead in life, and he’s been smart enough to take his YouTube following and parlay it into a boxing career, ” said Michael Bisping.
“The guy is obviously passionate about the sport. He trains very hard. He’s a switched-on guy. He knows how to piss people off and everyone being pissed off, all that emotion, that transfers into dollars in the bank account. “
Recall that the fight between Jake Paul and Ben Asren took place on April 17th at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, USA. The video blogger knocked out Askren in the first round.