Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley – MMA Fighters Predict
Ahead of the August 29. professional boxing match between 3-0 professional boxer and YouTube content creator, Jake ‘The Problem Child’ Paul and former undisputed UFC welterweight champion, Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley, numerous mixed martial artists have provided their predictions to LowKick MMA on how they believe the eight round affair will play out between the two.
Former UFC featherweight contender, the recently retired, Artem Lobov gave his thoughts on the bout and explained how he hopes Woodley manages to overcome Paul for the sport of mixed martial arts.
As a person, I’m not gonna lie, I don’t like him (Jake Paul),” Lobov said. “He doesn’t come across well, ever. He’s very, very disrespectful. Yeah, I don’t really like him in that sense. But I hope Tyron Woodley beats him and I hope Tyron Woodley gets one for the MMA guys and puts him back in his place.“
Recently minted interim UFC heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane also provided his thoughts on the matchup of Paul and Woodley, and claimed as far as storytelling goes, a victory for Paul would provide a good message to those with aspirations in combat sports.
“I don’t know, I don’t know — just for the storytelling, maybe, Jake Paul — winner,” Gane said. “Because the guy (is) gonna grow up and train hard and when you are confident and you believe in yourself, everything is possible. And, maybe it’s possible. And this is a good message for the people and this is good for switching a little bit more (between) boxing and MMA to make a bridge.“
Talented featherweight Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace, Bryce Mitchell also provided his thoughts — where he picked Woodley to prevail with the win but also expects a good fight to play out between the two.
“I think the (Tyron) Woodley and (Jake) Paul fight is a good fight,” Mitchell said. “I think that — I’m rooting for Woodley cause he’s from MMA. I’ve watched all of Woodley’s fights, just for film study, and he’s got that good right uppercut and overhand and he can land it. I mean, I think he’ll win — I’m hoping that he does. I think it’ll be a good fight, that Jake Paul seems to be bigger than he (Woodley) is. And he’s younger, so he’s probably got a real good chin.“
Bellator MMA contender and UFC alum, Liz Carmouche appears to lean toward Paul in this upcoming pairing, detailing that usually when you enter someone else’s field of specialty, they usually prevail.
“It’s weird, I feel like (Conor) opened up a can of worms, in terms of that hybrid coming in between those,” Carmouche said. “I know when see boxers come in there, with the exception of Claressa Shields — they don’t adapt well to MMA. And in boxing, so it’s the same thing, I see stance changes or they wanna throw a superman punch and you see the hesitation of wanting to throw a kick and not being able to. But ultimately, you go to someone’s specialty and you try and compete with them, they succeed cause that’s what they’ve been doing and that’s what they focus on. I think it always comes down to the boxer in the end.“
Former Cage Warriors welterweight champion and recent UFC signing, Ian Garry has picked Paul to beat Woodley, explaining how he believes the latter is a “quitter.
“In regards to the fight, I think Jake Paul beats him,” Garry said. “I think Tyron Woodley is a quitter. And if Jake Paul can put it on him — it annoys me because he’s gonna be able to say he beat a world champion in MMA, but I do think he can absolutely beat Woodley. … Unless he comes swinging out like Mike Tyson, I really think Jake Paul is gonna win that fight.“
PFL welterweight standout and tournament finalist, Ray Cooper III believes it’s a blatant cash-grab from the two.
“I don’t know, man,” Cooper III said. “It’s just cartoon crap. I really don’t know. I think they’re all in it for the money and just, it’s not a real competition boxing match. Because Tyron Woodley is on a four-loss streak.“
Another PFL standout, Brendan Loughnane, appears to have already accepted that Paul will emerge victorious — urging Woodley not to lose to the Ohio native.
“I really don’t wanna say,” Loughnane said. “I really don’t wanna say. I guess by the way I’m saying it, you know who I’m talking about, so. We got a five-time UFC champion fighting a YouTuber and it’s like, please don’t lose, bro. That’s all I’m saying, please don’t lose, bro.“
UFC light heavyweight contender, Modestas Bukauskas believes Woodley’s overall striking expertise and rings man ship should lead him to victory over Paul.
“In terms of pure boxing, Tyron Woodley’s got much heavier hands,” Bukauskas said. “Jake Paul has been training boxing specifically for a longer time than Woodley has so, it’s just a case of — Woodley needs to go in there, it is a different bit of an energy game in boxing than it is in MMA. … I do see Woodley winning, man. Like, come on now, a guy who has been a world champion for such a long time. And a guy — you gotta admit that Jake Paul is talented, he can definitely bang. But I do think there’s a bit more experience and ringcraft from Woodley because he’s a much better striker than (Ben) Askren so I’ll be interested to see how that one plays out. But I really hope Woodley brings that one home for us.“
Former Bellator welterweight champion and recent PFL headliner, Rory MacDonald, a past opponent of Woodley — believes Paul will give Woodley a “really tough time“.
“To be honest, just from a boxing perspective, I think Jake could give him a really tough time,” MacDonald said. “I like Tyron, and we’ve crossed paths before, but it’s not MMA it’s just with the hands, so it’s gonna be, he’s gonna have to be at his best.“
UFC featherweight contender, Lerone Murphy believes Woodley is simply scoring a payday with his pairing against Paul.
“He’s (Paul) putting the shift in,” Murphy said. “Like, fair play to him like. It is what it is. For the people that wanna fight him — most of the MMA fighters are calling him out for the big money fights, everyone wants to get paid. … I think he might be a bit too big for Woodley. I think he walks around 200+ pounds or something. I think Woodley’s just there for a payday. I respect him for what he’s done in his career but I think he just wants to get paid. So, we’ll see what happens with that one.“
UFC bantamweight contender, Nathaniel Wood believes pre-fight hype will work in the favor of Paul — who he thinks will win, but has hope that Woodley can score the victory.
“I don’t know how well Woodley will deal with the hype, you know, all the trash-talking, everything that’s gone on,” Wood said. “I think that works in Jake’s favor a lot more. So I’m going for Jake Paul to win. However, I’d love Tyron Woodley to win. Obviously, I’d rather he’d win. But I think Jake Paul is gonna do it.“
