6 Best Opponents for Jake Paul's Next Fight

In the end, it went more or less the way we expected. Jake Paul beat Mike Tyson, and mercifully didn't knock him out. He probably could have, but he didn't, and in the process kept Netflix's dreams of pushing into the boxing market alive.

The fight, which was contested in front of 70,000 fights in Arlington, Texas, and viewed by millions, did nothing to legitimize Paul's case as a serious boxer, but there's no question his star is brighter than ever.

After the fact, he has many matchup options in two sports — boxing and MMA — and some of them are objectively huge.

Here are the six fights we think make the most sense for him next.

Outside of Jake Paul and his brother Logan, KSI is the biggest star on the influencer boxing scene. He's technically only 1-1 as a pro — much less experienced than Jake — but one of those wins came against Logan, and he also has a handful of amateur wins.

Jake has been calling KSI out for a boxing match for years, and after beating "Iron" Mike, it still makes sense.

Jake has talked a lot over the years about his desire to become a serious contender in the boxing ring. A fight with KSI isn't going to do anything whatsoever to help him meet that goal, but there's no question it would be big business, presumably as co-promotion between KSI's Misfits Boxing and Paul's Most Valuable Promotions.

Netflix might even be up for broadcasting it again.

If Jake Paul is serious about evolving into a serious contender, he needs to fight other serious boxers — not retired MMA fighters, and certainly not anybody in their fifties or sixties. England's Tommy Fury, the half-brother of heavyweight star Tyson Fury, isn't exactly a world-class boxer, but he is serious about the craft — serious enough to be the man behind the only loss of Paul's career.

Paul and Fury first met in February of 2023. The Brit ultimately walked away with a split-decision win after being knocked down once, creating plenty of material for a sequel in the process. If Paul were able to win the rematch, it would justify a step up in competition — though it's hard to imagine that would go any better for him than the first Fury fight.

It's not the biggest fight for Paul, but if he's serious about moving up the ladder, it might be the move.

Jake Paul has been laying out plans for a fight with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez for years. Those plans have always verged on delusional, given Canelo's status as one of the greatest boxers of this generation, but it's fair to say that Paul is closer than ever to making it happen after beating a boxing legend on Friday night.

Paul would be cooked in this potential fight. Despite being significantly larger than Canelo, he would get profoundly embarrassed on a technical level. And despite having proven knockout power, his landing a knockout punch on Canelo is no more likely than the Mexican star being hit by a meteor.

For Canelo, the inevitable knockout victory would do nothing in terms of his improving legacy as boxing legend, but it would lead to a pretty big payday, and give him the chance to avenge Tyson in the process. Maybe that would be enough to convince him to sign the contract.

For a fleeting moment, it seemed like Jake Paul and former UFC star Jorge Masvidal were going to be friends. That was years ago, in the lead-up to Paul's brutal knockout win over former Masvidal opponent Ben Askren. In a fairly unsurprising twist, however, the two outspoken personalities eventually started swapping trash talk on social media and in interviews, and now they don't seem to like each other.

As luck would have it, Masvidal recently made his boxing debut, losing a close decision to fellow UFC star Nate Diaz in a shockingly good fight. Masvidal looked pretty good in the ring and would make a credible test for Paul, despite being much smaller. It wouldn't do much to strengthen Paul's boxing resume, but it's the kind of winnable fight he loves to sell us.

This fight could also happen in MMA. Several years back, Paul signed an exclusive deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and still — allegedly — plans to step into the cage. Of course, he would almost certainly lose in that context. While he's a decent boxer and ostensibly has some kind of wrestling background, he would kicked and grappled into dust by Masvidal, who is very well-rounded as a mixed martial artist.

Masvidal has expressed interest in returning to the UFC, but they don't seem to have much interest in bringing him back, so you never know. Maybe he'll get a call from the PFL.

As we covered above, Paul has claimed he plans to try his hand at MMA in the PFL SmartCage. The most likely option of terms of opponents for his MMA debut is still Nate Diaz.

Diaz, a huge combat sports star in his own right, is one of several fading UFC stars Paul has beaten in the boxing ring. Their fight wasn't particularly close — Diaz looked pretty awful, as a matter of fact — but a rematch would still generate a lot of buzz, particularly if it was in MMA.

Paul claims he and the PFL have approached Diaz with generous offers to make the MMA rematch happen, but so far, the former UFC star seems to have no interest in taking part. That's surprising, given that he would almost certainly choke Paul unconscious, but if nothing better comes along, he might just change his tune.

We've already mentioned the procession of UFC outcasts Jake Paul has beaten in his quest for boxing relevance. The latest of the bunch is current BKFC star "Platinum" Mike Perry, who Paul battered to a TKO this past summer shortly after his first booking with Tyson fell through.

While Perry has established himself as the face of BKFC — at least until Conor McGregor came on as a part-owner — he might be compelled to return to the cage for an MMA rematch with Paul.

For this to happen, BKFC would need to play ball with the PFL, but the bare-knuckle promotion has repeatedly shown a willingness to work with other promotions, so it's not unlikely they would be willing to loan Perry to Peter Murray and Donn Davis.

Perry was never known for his grappling in MMA, though he surprised fans by out-wrestling Mickey Gall a few years back. Nonetheless, he would have a good shot at avenging his loss to Paul if takedowns, kicks, and perhaps most importantly elbows — which the PFL now allows at times — were allowed.