In just three professional fights, Jake Paul reportedly achieved a pay-per-view milestone that the legendary Jon Jones, a contender for UFC`s greatest of all time, never reached during his illustrious combat sports career.
Jones` career in mixed martial arts recently concluded following Dana White`s announcement of his retirement. This news resolved a period of considerable uncertainty and frustration within the heavyweight division, primarily due to Jones` refusal to fight Tom Aspinall, who was the interim champion and is now the undisputed titleholder.
While this situation has led some observers to speculate that `Bones` might have tarnished his legacy, many others have extended praise and congratulations for his remarkable career achievements. Despite being widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, one particular feat reportedly eluded him: achieving one million pay-per-view buys for one of his events.
Jake Paul Reportedly Surpassed One Million PPV Buys Against an MMA Peer of Jon Jones
According to data compiled by Tapology, the retired UFC icon`s highest recorded pay-per-view figure came at UFC 214, the event featuring his rematch against Daniel Cormier. That fight reportedly drew an estimated 860,000 buys.
Remarkably, Jake Paul is reported to have surpassed this total significantly in just his third professional boxing match, which was also his first time headlining a major event. This bout pitted the YouTuber-turned-boxer against Ben Askren, a prominent figure in the MMA world who had previously held titles in Bellator and ONE Championship before a brief stint in the UFC.
Paul defied expectations, including those of Dana White, by knocking out `Funky` in the very first round. The event, headlined by Paul vs. Askren and also featuring other well-known combatants like Regis Prograis and Frank Mir, is reported to have attracted an impressive 1.45 million pay-per-view buys.
However, `The Problem Child` later claimed the number was even higher, exceeding 1.5 million, a figure the UFC CEO was quick to publicly dispute as heavily inflated.
“The numbers that you’re hearing that they did are full of s—. They’re full of s—,” White stated during the UFC 261 post-fight press conference. “They didn’t pull those kinds of numbers at all. Not even f—— close.”
Although there were rumors that Jones` return to win the heavyweight championship at UFC 285 reached one million buys, this figure remains unconfirmed, despite claims made publicly by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
Jake Paul Targets His Next PPV Success Against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
While Paul experienced significant early success in the combat sports pay-per-view market, his subsequent ventures haven`t always replicated those initial high numbers. For instance, the Cleveland native openly discussed his match against Anderson Silva underperforming on PPV, suggesting that speculation about `The Spider` potentially withdrawing negatively impacted advance purchases.
Following his win against Nate Diaz, which reportedly generated less than 500,000 buys, the former Disney star achieved record viewership in November as part of the first live combat sports event ever streamed on Netflix, where he faced and defeated Mike Tyson.
Now, the 28-year-old is scheduled to return to pay-per-view on DAZN on June 28, where he will seek his sixth consecutive victory against former WBC champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
