Editor’s note: This article was originally published on MMAJunkie.USAToday.com.
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Clay Collard thinks Jake Paul venturing into the world of boxing is disrespectful to the sport.
MMA fighter Collard recently laced up the gloves to start a pro boxing career and has found success in the ring, amassing a record of 9-3-3.
Collard has captured plenty of headlines during his short boxing career but he hasn’t reached the level of YouTube sensation Paul, who has the whole combat sports world talking despite never competing against an actual boxer.
After scoring knockouts of fellow YouTube star AnEsonGib and former NBA player Nate Robinson, Paul has agreed to fight former Bellator welterweight champion and ex-UFC fighter Ben Askren on April 17.
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Askren never boxed in his life and isn’t known for his striking, leading Collard to believe the matchup is a mockery of the sport.
“I don’t even want to talk about it, bro,” Collard told MMA Junkie. “It’s embarrassing to me. That’s stupid to me. Jake Paul, I mean he doesn’t box boxers. It’s all fake to me. They’re not fighters, man, and shame on Ben Askren for taking the fight. And Ben Askren might get beat up because he’s the guy [who] don’t know how to box at all. So I don’t know, man. It’s just embarrassing to me.
“Jake Paul should not be in combat sports. Go back to making YouTube videos, bro. I said it back when [the Paul brothers] first started fighting: People have been working their entire lives to get on those big shows and get opportunities like that, and just because this guy has a little bit of a following, he just gets tossed in there and gets to fight on these shows and fight these guys, and I just think it’s embarrassing for the sport.”
Collard (18-8-1) will shift his focus back to MMA when he enters PFL’s upcoming 2021 lightweight season with the likes of former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis and reigning PFL champ Natan Schulte.
He will compete in MMA for the first time since April 2019, when he picked up a unanimous decision win over Randall Wallace at Final Fight Championship 35.