‘I want to kick your ass’ – Jake Paul called out by another former UFC star ahead of Mike Tyson showdown

Former UFC fighter Clay Collard wants to win back MMA’s honour by beating up Jake Paul.

The 31-year-old cage fighter is now competing in PFL but insists he would jump at the opportunity to return to the boxing ring if a fight with Paul presented itself.

Paul is 9-1 as a pro and will face Tyson next in an exhibition bout

Collard is a veteran of 18 professional boxing bouts (9-6-2) and fought Olympic silver medallist Bektemir Melikuziev in the paid ranks.

He initially started training in boxing to improve his striking skills for MMA but ended up taking multiple short-notice fights to help pay the bills after he was cut from the UFC in 2015 following a four-fight (1-3) stint with the organisation.

Collard believes his boxing experience would allow him to give Paul a better run for his money than the ageing MMA stars ‘The Problem Child’ has been knocking over for the majority of his pro career.

Speaking to the talkSPORT MMA YouTube channel, Collard said: “The only guy I want to box is Jake Paul.

“I have played the game of boxing a little bit unlike most of these guys so I think he would definitely have his hands full against me. But he’s doing crazy s* now.”

Delivering a short and sweet message to Paul, Collard concluded: “I want to kick your ass.”

Of Paul’s nine opponents in professional boxing, four of them have come from the world of MMA; Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley (twice), Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz.

Collard wants to box Paul

However, in his next outing, he is set to face boxing legend Mike Tyson on July 20 in Arlington, Texas.

The fight has not been received well by boxing purists, who have expressed concerns about Tyson’s health as he gears up to face a man 31 years younger than him.

Tyson will have just celebrated his 58th birthday by the time he climbs into the ring while Paul is in his physical prime at 27.

The former undisputed heavyweight champion has no time for critics of his upcoming fight and insists those that are bad-mouthing it are just ‘jealous’.

UFC star Colby Covington accuses Jake Paul of using ‘hand signal’ to fix fights as he prepares to face Mike Tyson
He told Reuters: “I’m 58 and what? I’m getting billions of views from just talking to somebody about fighting.

“Everybody, even most of the athletes, they’re jealous, that’s whack. I say in your prime you couldn’t draw a million people, man.

“What are you talking, you couldn’t sell out arena. Who at 58 could sell out an 80,000-seat arena?

“Why you think he wants to fight me and not anybody else? Everybody wants to fight him, all the boxers want to fight him.

“But if he fought them the only people that will come are the people that like him. The other guys, their parents might not even come watch them.

“That’s just keeping it real. They’re too boring for their children to watch, it’s like watching grass grow.”