Al Bello/Getty Images for Triller. Pictured: Jake Paul celebrates after defeating Ben Askren in their cruiserweight bout during Triller Fight Club at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 17, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.
YouTuber Jake Paul continues his boxing career against former UFC star Tyron Woodley on Sunday night from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Paul’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.
This is Paul’s fourth professional fight. He’s knocked out YouTuber AnEsonGib, former NBA player Nate Robinson, and former MMA fighter Ben Askren, who is a longtime friend and teammate of Woodley.
Paul is favored over Woodley at just about every sportsbook, with Caesars listing Paul at -190 ($19 bet wins $10). Paul was a similar favorite over Ben Askren earlier this year and knocked him out in the first round.
Woodley first won the UFC Welterweight title in 2016 and defended it four times, but has fallen off a cli/ff since losing his title to Kamaru Usman in 2019. The 39-year-old has dropped four straight bouts — the first two by unanimous decision, and the last two by TKO and submission.
Woodley wrestled at the University of Missouri and rose the ranks as a grappler, not a striker, though he did have seven knockouts in 19 career wins in UFC.
Here’s everything you need to know about Woodley vs. Paul for Sunday’s bout.
Paul vs. Woodley Date, Time
- Date: Sunday, Aug. 29
- Time: Around midnight ET
This bout will take place on a Sunday, like the Logan Paul-Floyd Mayweather fight. Some other websites have wrongly assumed it will be Saturday, like most big PPV boxing matches.
The main card begins at 8 p.m. ET and features four other fights, so we can expect Paul and Woodley to enter the ring around midnight, or perhaps a little bit after.
1️⃣ 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 ⌛#PaulWoodley Sunday 8.29 LIVE on @Showtime PPV.
𝙊𝙍𝘿𝙀𝙍 𝙉𝙊𝙒: https://t.co/67IsijPXtB pic.twitter.com/yVvfQaOIzA
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 22, 2021
Paul vs. Woodley Odds
Caesars lists Paul as a -190 favorite ($19 bet pays $10), with the underdog Woodley at +160 ($10 bet pays $16). Learn more about reading American odds here.
Those odds give Paul a 63.01% chance of winning, with the vig removed.
| Fighter | Odds | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Paul | -190 | 63.01% |
| Tyron Woodley | +160 | 36.99% |
Caesars also has a variety of props to bet, including Paul to win by KO, TKO or DQ at -120 ($12 bet wins $10) and Paul to win in the first round at +600 ($10 bet wins $60).
The over/under for rounds is 3.5, with slight juice on the under at -125. The fight is scheduled for eight rounds, so the betting market is expected it to end in a knockout or TKO.
What Are the Rules & Format?
Unlike Logan Paul-Mayweather, this fight will be sanctioned. That means there will be fairly standard rules:
- Eight rounds
- 190 pounds
- 20×20 ring size
- 10 ounce gloves
This is a cruiserweight bout, normally a 200-pound limit, but both fighters are expected to be around 190 pounds. Woodley fought as a 170-pound welterweight for most of his career so he’s more like 190 pounds in real life, therefore he won’t have to cut weight for this bout.
Paul will have a slight size advantage at 6-foot-1 to Woodley’s 5-foot-9, plus a two-inch reach edge.
How Do I Get the PPV?
- PPV Price: $59.99
- PPV Provider: Showtime
Showtime is hosting this bout, and it’s available even if you don’t subscribe to Showtime through your cable provider. Once you buy, you can stream on just about any device through the Showtime app.
- Apple TV (4th Gen+)
- Roku
- Fire TV
- Xbox One
- iOS
- Android
If you prefer to watch through your cable provider, you can purchase through just about every service, including Xfinity, Spectrum, Contour, Verizon Fios, DirecTV, U-Verse TV and Dish.
How Did We Get Here?
Whenever an Internet celebrity fights a former UFC star, or anyone for that matter, it’s worth noting how exactly we arrived at this point.
Woodley is a longtime friend and teammate of Ben Askren, who Paul knocked out in Round 1 in April. Woodley and Paul’s entourage got into it a bit backstage during that fight and called Woodley’s boxing ability into question. Woodley was in Askren’s corner for that bout, as well.
Both Paul brothers have made calculated boxing moves so far, meant to maximize their earning potential while setting themselves up for future success. Even Floyd Mayweather admitted as much before his fight with Logan Paul.
“I believe in working smarter, not harder,” Mayweather said. “So if it’s something easy like [the Paul fight], a legalized bank robbery, I gotta do it. I have to do it.
“My nickname is ‘Money’ for a reason… I worked extremely hard for years and years to get to a certain level — a level where we can start calling everything an event.”
This will be Woodley’s boxing debut after losing four straight UFC fights to seemingly put an end to his career in the octagon, at least at the highest level. His UFC contract expired in March after his loss to Vicente Luque at UFC 260.
Showtime has released a 30-minute all-access episode ahead of the fight.
There’s also a strange bet on the line — the loser has to get a tattoo of admiration with the other one’s name. If Paul loses, he’ll get an “I love Tyron Woodley” tattoo.
Paul, though he rose to fame through social media, has been taking his boxing training quite seriously. The 24-year-old Ohio native is training with BJ Flores and spent time training with former boxing star “Sugar” Shane Mosely.
“Paul has been training really hard,” Mosley said before Paul’s first pro fight, a knockout over AnEsonGib. “He surprised me because he’s a YouTuber, but he’s actually training like a real fighter. He worked with me one time and I could see he had good athletic ability. He was a football player, basketball player, he did wrestling — he’s an athlete.”
The Paul brothers wrestled in the wrestling-crazy state of Ohio growing up.
Both Woodley and Paul have promised knockouts in this fight.
“Easiest fight of my career and biggest purse of my career all in one night,” Woodley told ESPN earlier this summer. “I can’t wait to shut this b—- up. This is getting done for the culture, the whole MMA community and boxing community, to rid this guy of combat sports.”