Jake Paul was able to laugh off a jab from Olivia Rodrigo during her appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Paul has been out of action since Anthony Joshua broke his jaw in several places during their controversial fight last December.
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The 29-year-old is now being linked with a move to MMA, following calls from Donald Trump for him to face Khabib Nurmagomedov.
While he did get some recognition for stepping up to such a difficult challenge, there’s still plenty of scepticism around how he’s gone about his boxing career.
This past Saturday night, while hosting SNL, popstar Olivia Rodrigo took a playful dig at Jake Paul over the way he’s built his boxing career.
Before their careers took off in different directions, Paul and Rodrigo both appeared on the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark.
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“We’d always talk about our futures, me and Jake. I’d say, ‘I really want to create music that explores the complexities of girls my age.’ And he’d say, ‘Well, one day I really want to beat up old guys on Netflix.’ And we both did it. Hurray,” she said.
“We had the vision! I told you that I would sell stadiums out and then we both did. Proud of you for real,” Paul responded to Rodrigo in a post on X.
The backlash grew even louder in 2024 when he brought 58-year-old Mike Tyson out of retirement for a fight that broke viewership records but drew heavy criticism for how it was put together.
That phase of his career appears to be behind him now. If he returns to fighting retired athletes again, it’s unlikely to generate nearly as much attention as before.
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Paul is now focusing more on promoting than fighting. He’s set to put together one of the year’s biggest MMA events when Ronda Rousey faces Gina Carano under his Most Valuable Promotions banner.
And while his own fighting career hasn’t always earned widespread respect, Paul and MVP have made significant contributions to women’s boxing — work that now appears set to continue in MMA too.
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