Dana White scoffs at Jake Paul’s UFC challenge: “You’re a cheater”

UFC President Dana White responded to Jake Paul’s challenge to increase fighter pay in exchange for his retirement by claiming he thinks Paul is a “cheater”, asking him to take random steroid tests.

On January 1, Paul issued a “real challenge” to White. He said he would retire from boxing immediately and agree to fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC if White agreed to pay his fighters more and provide long-term healthcare.

He also tagged a number of fighters to get on board, including Conor McGregor, Francis Ngannou, Israel Adesanya, Jorge Masvidal, Kamaru Usman, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Nate Diaz, Rose Namajunas, and more.

White responded to the challenge shortly after. He called Paul a “cheater” and asked him to take random steroid tests for the next two years. Then, he urged him to start his own fight promotion business if he thinks it’s so easy.

Amanda Westcott, SHOWTIME

Jake Paul and Dana White have been butting heads since early 2021.

“Jake, you never responded to the challenge,” said White. “I believe that you’re a cheater. I believe that you use steroids. So, I want to randomly steroid test you for the next two years.

“That thing you came out with today. Nobody on earth thinks that you really wrote that. You’re too stupid.” He also implied that Jake’s “scumbag” manager, who used to be an accountant for the UFC, played a part.

“If you two think you can do it better than we do, and that we’re doing this whole thing wrong, and that you can treat the fighters better than we do, knock yourselves out.  Go start your own business. It’s easy to do.”

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Then, he told them to focus on their own business. “You’re tanking. You can’t sell pay-per-views. You’re calling out Jorge Masvidal because he’s a pay-per-view superstar. Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Mike Tyson. These are all superstars. You’re not.”

White concluded his response by reiterating his point about Paul’s pay-per-view numbers. He also laid down the random steroid testing challenge one last time. “Do you use steroids? Let’s do this, Jake,” he said.

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White and Paul have been at odds with each other ever since White disputed Paul’s pay-per-view numbers against Ben Askren in April 2021. Paul responded by telling him to pay his fighters more, and the rest is history.