Ben Parrish hopes that he can take the momentum accumulated during his Bellator debut, and turn it into an exclusive contract for the promotion – as well as a chance of welcoming Jake Paul to the world of MMA.
For a good cause, of course.
“Big Tuna” returns to the Bellator cage on Saturday when he faces Sullivan Cauley at Bellator 273. The event takes place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, and the heavyweight matchup serves on the preliminary card on MMA Fighting.
Parrish is aware of the interest Paul has received in the boxing industry. He’s heard Scott Coker express interest in signing the undefeated boxer to Bellator. He has an offer to make for YouTube’s YouTube celebrity if that is true.
” I just partnered with a large foundation against bullying. Jake Paul has a charity to fight anti-bullying. But, we know exactly what we will not do. That’s why we don’t have a winner take all purse on Showtime Bellator MMA, where the foundation wins the money. Parrish explained this to MMA Fighting. “I bet you he won’t game up to nothing like that because I’m his size, and I don’t do steroids.
“I’m all for it. He would be my boxer or fighter in MMA. I don’t care.”
Paul, along with his older brother Logan Paul, has created a ripple effect in the boxing world using a boxing vs. MMA model that has led to capacity crowds and surprising buyrates. Paul has two wins over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, including a vicious knockout in their second meeting this past December, and a first-round stoppage of Ben Askren this past April.
Parrish doesn’t understand the appeal the Paul brothers have been generating in the combat sports world, but he knows it’s real.
” I don’t mean to be a hateful person, but I did get props from them guys because I saw their streamer boxer events,” Parrish stated. We looked at the event as if we were playing online video games. I watched that KSI [vs.] Logan Paul event and it was terrible, now look where we’re at. [Logan’s] fighting Floyd Mayweather, the other one’s beating up Woodley who is a welterweight when he’s 200 pounds, and people are just eating it up.
“People keep telling me, ‘I want to see you fight Jake Paul. Logan Paul, I would love to see you take on him. It would be my easiest fight and the most lucrative. Are you kidding me?”
Parrish was a Bellator rookie at the September’s Bellator 266. He defeated heavy favourite Christian Edwards in round one. He now meets Cauley, another undefeated prospect and protege of heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, who looks to improve his pro and Bellator record to 3-0 after a pair of opening-round finish victories.
Heading into the bout, Parrish is on the tail end of a two-fight option deal with Bellator. A win puts him in a great position to earn a multi-fight deal, though the 29-year-old believes he’ll be competing in the Bellator cage for the foreseeable future, regardless of the outcome.
“He and me will likely engage in Bellator’s most brutal fight of 2022,” Parrish described. “I would love nothing more than for Scott Coker to retire me from the work force and let me really ride this dragon to take this castle over and see what he’s got planned for me. They’re going to sign me win, draw, or lose because of the 29th I bring.
“I’m knocking him the f*ck out.” And if I don’t knock him out, I’m gonna submit him.”
