Markus Perez Talks About Sparring Jake Paul
Former UFC middleweight fighter, Markus Perez, has detailed his recent sparring session with Jake Paul who is currently preparing to box Ben Askren on April 17.
Perez joined the UFC in 2017 and picked up two wins inside the Octagon. The 30-year-old was part of the latest rounds of cuts.
The end to his UFC career was not surprising when you consider he lost three fights consecutively.
Perez was most recently in action at UFC Fight Island 8, where he lost via unanimous decision against Dalcha Lungiambula.
During his three-fight skid Perez was also knocked out by Dricus Du Plessis and dropped a decision against Wellington Turman.
Since his UFC release Perez has been staying busy doing some boxing sparring with YouTube celebrity Jake Paul.
In an interview with AG Fight, Perez revealed exactly what went down when he stood across the ring from the 24-year-old.
“He’s young, he has two boxing matches, so he’s starting, you can’t see much and he hasn’t caught a tough guy yet,” Perez said. “I am not a boxer, I am kung fu, I like to kick and I train boxing for a short time with Gabriel de Oliveira, in the American Top Team. He will fight with a guy who is a grappler, he is not even a striker, but he has to see what the guy will take, his head as it will be.”
“From what I saw from our sparring, he will want to make a game of scoring,” Perez added. “I did it slowly, his coaches asked me not to accelerate and I didn’t even wear a helmet, he was wearing a ten-ounce glove and I was wearing a 16. He played with it, took a wave. It was very quiet. If it were a fight I would have gone for a walk.”
Paul is known for being a provocateur outside of the ring but it was Perez who managed to upset the YouTube with his antics during sparring.
“Actually, I was the one who provoked him. I laughed, took the wave, played,” Perez said. “He got mad at me and came to take my head off. I looked to the side because I was punching a lot. His corners got mad at me (laughs). If you put two provocateurs, we see who the leader is. He’s a youtuber and I’m a fighter. He’s coming now.”
Do you think sparring Markus Perez is good preparation for Jake Paul ahead of his fight with Ben Askren?
