UFC 261: Daniel Cormier says he’ll rip Jake Paul’s face apart, but only open to MMA fight
- ‘Don’t think for a second I would ever chase a payday in boxing because I don’t need it. I’m good,’ Cormier says
- ‘At 42 years old, bad back and everything, I’m going to torture him and hurt him,’ adds former UFC double champ
Daniel Cormier has expanded on his verbal altercation with Jake Paul at UFC 261, and offered to fight the YouTube star – but only under MMA rules.
The 24-year-old Paul – who had taken his record in boxing to 3-0 with a first-round knockout of former UFC star Ben Askren at Triller Fight Club the previous weekend – had antagonised the 42-year-old with some comments and gestures towards the broadcast booth at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
“I wanted to grab his face,” Cormier told ESPN. “I was gonna grab him by the face, but I would have got in trouble by the UFC. Listen, a kid like that, you alpha a kid like that. You alpha him. I wanted to grab him by the face and smash him to the ground, but I can’t do that at work, I would have got into a lot of trouble.
“So I just went over there and tried to have a conversation with the kid and then security comes and all that and he’s like, ‘Sign the contract’. I’m like, ‘Come on. Sign the contract, what are you talking about, ‘sign the contract?’ What contract are you referring to? ‘Oh, sign the contract’. What are you talking about? There is no contract.”
Paul has continued to try to goad Cormier into a boxing bout, following disparaging comments from the former US Olympics wrestling team member about the Triller bout against Askren.
