Jake Paul has been told he is searching for "clout" as a "masquerade" fighter by UFC legend Michael Bisping.
The YouTube star has fought six times as a professional fighter which have included wins over former UFC fighters Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren. Many have questioned Paul's ambition in the sport given he has yet to fight an opponent with a natural background in boxing, despite claiming he intends to become world champion.
One of many fighters he has called out for a boxing clash is former UFC champion Bisping, who has not fought for several years, but entertained the possibility of a bout. The pair previously feuded and Bisping has remained critical of Paul's fighting career, renewing his claims that the content creator is not a genuine fighter.
"He is strategically with his manager trying to make money for themselves and God bless them," Bisping said when discussing Paul's career in combat sports on his Believe You Me podcast. "When you are masquerading as this fighter that is going to be a world champion and wants to fight Canelo Alvarez.
"When you are trying to spearhead a movement for the fighters. No. That is no. What you are doing, stop it. You are trying to hoodwink, pull the wool over peoples eyes for money, fame and clout. Because everyone wants to be a fighter and everyone wants to be the toughest guy in the room. He is trying to get people to talk about him like the best, but he isn't doing it that way.
"He is trying to get easy paydays. When the champ walks in the room, that is something that all men are looking for. It resonates with them, that is a thing that speaks to us and it is that animalistic thing. That fuelled me as a kid and Jake is trying to get that respect but he just doesn't have it in the right way."
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Bisping claimed he would be open to trying to stop the Paul unbeaten run, after agreeing last year to pursue a boxing clash, subject to professional sanctioning. The Briton even found an organisation willing to sanction the clash, but talks never officially materialised, with Paul unhappy with his own call-out.
Former UFC referee John McCarthy delivered a brutal verdict to Paul's call-out of Bisping, criticising him in light of his potential rival's injuries. "[He's an] absolute punk," he said on his Weighing In podcast. "The fact that you are going and calling out a guy in Michael Bisping, who has one eye, has two metal knees.
"And this is the guy that you are going to try to fight to show how good you are? Come on, man. That is just horrible. It doesn’t look good for you. It doesn’t look good for anything. It’s not that Michael Bisping wouldn’t fight you, he would. I agree, I think he would but the fact that any athletic commission will allow it to happen."
