Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua: Daniel Cormier breaks down the fight

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier has given his thoughts on the fight that took place between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua last week.

Last Friday night, Jake Paul fell short in his attempt to pull off the biggest upset in boxing history. He lost via sixth round knockout to former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, and in doing so, he also suffered a broken jaw, which he has now had successful surgery for.

As you can imagine, the criticism was pretty notable in the wake of what went down. Jake Paul threw a lot of nonsense in the direction of Joshua, including various takedown attempts as if it was a mixed martial arts bout. Alas, he eventually got tired from running around the ring, swinging the door open for AJ to land the nasty right hand that ultimately got him out of there.

In a recent video on his channel, Daniel Cormier broke down what happened in Jake Paul’s defeat at the hands of Anthony Joshua.

Daniel Cormier’s view on Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua

“Some people believe in fairytales,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Whoever believed that Jake Paul was going to win, that was an absolute fairytale. … There was never a world in which Jake Paul was going to beat Anthony Joshua. It was always a matter of how the fight would end.”

“In the sixth round, you could just tell this fight was over,” Cormier said. “You knew that Anthony Joshua was going to eventually land something that hurt Jake Paul. … That right hand, oh my God. He took all of that right hand. You could see in his face. He was like, ‘OK, now I understand boxing. 

“Now I understand, like, at its worst, what boxing can be’ because he got hit clean by one of the biggest punchers, acclaimed, lots of accolades, world champion heavyweight, and he went down and didn’t get up.

“And honestly, I was hoping he didn’t get up because it was only going to get worse.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Will Paul return early in 2026 for another big fight? We would assume the answer is yes.