YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul is one of the most divisive and polarising figures in the world of entertainment. This weekend, he once again takes to the ring against ex-UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who he beat in August. But did Jake Paul wrestle in high school? Curiosity peaked after he mentioned an Ohio State background.
Paul has yet to face an actual boxer in the ring. Tyson Fury’s younger brother, Tommy, was forced to withdraw from their scheduled bout earlier this month. Paul’s most notable victories have come against former NBA-star Nate Robinson and UFC stars Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
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However, Paul may well be looking beyond boxing and has hinted he could take the plunge into mixed martial arts (MMA) some time in the near future.
“For sure, 100 per cent I think it could happen,” Paul responded when asked about a possible MMA fight at a recent press conference. “Why not? If I can learn how to box in two years and beat people like [Woodley], why can’t I learn how to do MMA in two years and beat people like him?”
Jake Paul mentions Ohio State wrestling background during interview
Paul also added he will be trained by top coach Javier Mendez, who is known for coaching former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“For sure I will,” Paul said. “People seem to forget I was a state wrestler, division one in Ohio. That’s one of the hardest wrestling states and I don’t see why, if I can do boxing at this high a level, I couldn’t do MMA at this high a level.”
“I’m going to go and get coached up by Javier Mendes, Team Khabib and that’s that,” he added.
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Did Jake Paul wrestle in high school?
After Jake Paul mentioned his Ohio State wrestling background, people were curious to know more. Jake Paul did allegedly wrestle during his high school years. However, he has no official credentials at a college such as Ohio State.
However, Jake’s older brother Logan does hold some fairly impressive wrestling credentials. He took fifth place in OHSAA State Championships in 2013 during his senior year of high school and ultimately decided to join the wrestling team at Ohio University. The school is NCAA-Division 1 for wrestling so it’s quite an achievement.
There are videos of Jake wrestling online, although he looks to be much inferior to older brother Logan. The elder Logan dropped out of school in 2014 to move to Los Angeles, which is when his wrestling career effectively ended.
Paul and Woodley prepare to face-off this weekend
Paul and Woodley will face each other once again when they meet on Saturday, 18 December at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Jake secured a split decision victory in their first fight in Cleveland, with many surprised he was able to go the distance with a former UFC champion.
The trash-talk has already started ahead of Saturday’s bout, with Tyron Woodley admitting Jake has already tried getting under his skin by DM’ing him.
“I expect him to do something to try to ruffle my feathers. He’s a kid. There’s going to be some sort of antics,” he told Submission Radio. “He’s already started the social media stuff, he’s sending me DM’s. I’m already expecting that.
“The disrespect won’t be tolerated. Last time they got a warning, this time there’s gonna be action, so I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”
Woodley was famously obligated to get an “I love Jake Paul” tattoo after losing their last fight, which Tyron proved he did actually get. However, he recently said it had faded away.
“I purposely did it to troll the troll”, he said. “Anybody who has a tattoo on the inside of their hand or a tattoo artist knows it fades. Taking showers, washing your hands, boxing, battle ropes, turf – I didn’t want to walk around with his name on me for the rest of my life.”