“Can’t believe Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua got sanctioned,” Legendary UFC Coach SLAMS Athletic Commission Over Freakshow Bout
Jake Paul’s corner disappointed one of MMA’s most legendary coaches to such an extent in the Anthony Joshua fight that he felt like an avoided brush with death transpired in Late-December. This was expressed by Tristar figurehead Firas Zahabi, a Canadian MMA legend who has shaped careers like Georges St. Pierre’s and does so still to this day with names like Aiemann Zahabi.
On the Tristar YouTube channel discussing the fallout of AJ knocking out Paul to close out 2025 in their highly watched boxing bout on Netflix, Zahabi said,
Putting Jake Paul in there with Anthony Johnson [Joshua] was ridiculous. I can’t believe this fight got sanctioned. Whoever sanctioned this fight was more interested in money than the well-being of boxing or the health of Jake Paul. This was a death sentence in my opinion, a possible death sentence for Jake Paul. And it was ridiculous that they sanctioned this fight.”
“Jake Paul had the guts to go in there and play with fire. Now, I don’t recommend anybody ever do such a thing, but the fact that he has so much courage. He faced death and he was just smiling and like fighting and doing his best.”
“Now, at the end, he got hit in the jaw and I’m grateful he got hit in the jaw. Now, you saw his jaw obviously was broken. It was swollen after, you know, you see the post op pictures. I mean, that’s a broken jaw. That’s as broken as they get. Imagine that punch had hit him in the side of the head. That could have killed him.”
Jake Paul’s medical suspension as the result of a broken jaw from anthony joshua
Jake Paul will be on the sidelines for the foreseeable future and will need physician approval before continuing on with his combat sports endeavours. The Florida Athletic Commission confirmed news of the medical suspension to MMA Fighting and Paul’s jaw being broken in two places will displace him from fighting for the time being.
Former two time rival of Paul’s Tyron Woodley, who was knocked out by Anderson Silva on the same December card in Miami, received a defined suspension of 30 days. For Paul, his suspension is indefinite and tied to an injury that saw him have metal plates put in. This obviously creates a nebulous idea for what a clear timeline could look like getting back to boxing.
