Michael Bisping has claimed his rivalry with Jake Paul has restarted after the YouTuber-turned-boxer began sending him inflammatory messages on social media.
Last year, the pair almost came to terms on an outlandish fight, with the only hurdle being the Brit's inability to pass medicals with his lack of vision in one eye. But it had been believed the pair had called something of a truce, before the UFC legend detailed how he had been receiving rude messages from Paul.
The former UFC middleweight champion is one of combat sport's most famed and renowned analysts, and has always given his unbiased takes on fighting in the octagon or the ring. And when necessary, he has been complimentary of Paul, despite often making fun of the American.
“I’ll tell you what I think, I think Jake Paul ’s a little d*ckhead,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “He’s been sending me DMs on Twitter again. I don’t know what prompted this one, I don’t know, maybe six months ago, maybe a bit less, he just came at me on Twitter.
"He started talking a lot of crap, this is direct messages by the way, I won’t go into the exact details. We went back and forth for a bit, you know what I mean, I was just kind of laughing at him, he was all upset. The reality is I don’t know Jake Paul. I’m sure he’s not a bad person.
"He talks a lot of crap, he’s doing his thing, he’s promoting himself, but I don’t know him, I’ve never met him. And I’ve never said anything personal about him, all I’ve ever said is that I wish the guy would fight a boxer”
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It appears the restarting of the feud was due to Bisping's public support of promoter Dana White in the media. The former UFC champion has moulded a career for himself as a top commentator in the promotion, and showed no interest in joining Paul's fighters union, which is still to be announced.
And it led to some nasty DMs, with the Brit offering a quick comeback mocking his rival's recent loss to Tommy Fury. "He said, 'How does Dana's nuts taste?" Bisping noted later in the video. "I don't know where that came from... So I said, 'How does Tommy's uppercut taste?'"
Paul is currently training for his return to the ring, although he won't honour Bisping's request of fighting a boxer as he returns to facing MMA stars; this time taking on Nate Diaz. He and Diaz will square off in Houston, Texas on August 5 as part of a DAZN pay-per-view event.
