Jake Paul still believes he can land an MMA fight with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
A Jake Paul vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov MMA fight is still on Paul’s wish list, with the YouTuber-turned-prizefighter again publicly pushing for a matchup with the retired former UFC lightweight champion. Paul made the comments in an interview with Complex, keeping alive one of the more unlikely crossover ideas in combat sports at a time when novelty fights continue to draw major attention in the U.S. market.
According to Paul, former U.S. president Donald Trump told him he would like to see that matchup, and Paul framed it as a massive event. He also said the biggest MMA fight available would be a clash with Conor McGregor, but added that a bout with Nurmagomedov would still be enormous and suggested the sport needs to bring Khabib out of retirement.
Paul acknowledged that money alone probably would not be enough to tempt Nurmagomedov back. Instead, he floated the idea of building something meaningful around the event, including helping rebuild villages in Dagestan.
From an American MMA perspective, that is where the story gets interesting. Nurmagomedov has shown little interest in returning to active competition, and his legacy at lightweight is already secure after retiring unbeaten at 29-0. For Paul, though, attaching himself to names like Khabib and McGregor remains the clearest way to stay relevant in the MMA conversation while building his brand beyond boxing.
If a fight like this were ever seriously discussed, the stakes would be wildly different for each man. For Paul, it would be a legitimacy test against one of the most dominant grapplers in UFC history. For Nurmagomedov, it would offer almost no competitive upside, which is exactly why many American fans and media figures would likely view the callout as spectacle first, sport second.
For now, this looks more like another ambitious target than an actual negotiation, but Paul has made it clear he is still chasing the kind of crossover bout that could dominate headlines the moment it becomes real.
