Like many in the MMA space, Din Thomas was shaking his head when it came to Jake Paul’s reaction to some of the pivotal moments at UFC 278.
After the shocking conclusion to the event in which Leon Edwards defeated Kamaru Usman at the welterweight championship main show, Paul posted a series of tweets mocking Usman. Prior to that, the undefeated boxer took shots at the co-main event between Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold, calling it “embarrassing” and said that both men would be “easy money” if he was to face either one of them.
Paul took the UFC to task on several occasions for not paying fighters and taking an apparent stance against fighter rights promotion. Thomas doesn’t know what Paul meant.
“It’s very contradictory, right? Whose side are you actually on?” Thomas told MMA Fighting. Thomas said that he is in a place where he could be the most well-known fighter. He and Conor might be the most popular fighters, and he’s done a lot for combat sports. You can’t take that away from him. His contributions to fighting sports have been numerous — both for women and men.
“One hand you want to make everybody pay, so you cancel the show, but still give your fighters half of your earnings, that’s good. Many promoters would not have done it, but he did. I suppose he was trying to save face but he has the money. He’s actually not fighting for fighters in his efforts to stand up for them.
“When you go on there and you rip a guy like Usman, and then you’re ripping legends like Luke Rockhold, dude, what are you doing?” Thomas continued. “You just came out [in the game], you’re 24 years old. He’s been fighting for longer than I have, and he doesn’t just dogg people .
Thomas is certainly familiar with the YouTube star-turned-pro boxer as a longtime coach of former UFC welterweight champion and two-time opponent Tyron Woodley. Paul was victorious in both meetings between the two in the boxing ring in 2021, including a vicious KO win in their second matchup this past December.
Thomas can see where Paul, if he really wanted to make a change in advocating fighter pay and fighter rights. In his eyes, it shouldn’t be for the UFC’s athletes, but the ones on the road to making it to the big show.
” If you truly want to help fighter pay, keep running your shows and paying fighters more, Thomas stated. “In the grand scheme of things, in the world of MMA, not the world of UFC, but the world of MMA, UFC fighters are fine. They are doing just fine, and most of them are happy. Some aren’t happy but the majority of them seem content and lucky to be where they are. Because when you’re not in the UFC and you’re still putting your body on the line, still training like you’re fighting in the UFC and your health is still on the line, and the risk is still the same in these other organizations, you ain’t making no money.
“That is who Jake Paul should help and not the UFC guys. Don’t go to the UFC guys and say they need help. UFC I see guys at the [Performance Institute] getting free food, free medical care, free resources, they get taken care of. It’s these guys at these other shows that are making $1,000 a fight, or still getting beat up for a couple hundred bucks, those are the ones Jake Paul needs to take care of. Don’t worry about the UFC guys, or dog them, worry about the guys on the regional scene, or these under shows that are making no money.”
