Jake Paul is cleared to box again, and he just posted a hit list

Jake Paul is cleared to box again. Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Paul’s promotion company Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), announced it on X on Oct 8: Jake Paul has been cleared to return to the boxing ring, according to ESPN.

The same week, Paul also posted a list of people he wants to fight, which is exactly the kind of thing you do when your jaw works again.

What happened to the jaw

Paul, 29, is 12-2 as a pro with seven knockouts, ESPN reports. He has not fought since he broke his jaw in his knockout loss to Anthony Joshua last December. He had surgical procedures on the jaw in December and February, and in April he told ESPN he had resumed light training but could not yet spar.

Per Wikipedia’s account of that fight, Paul was heavily outsized, lost by KO in round 6, and had two titanium plates placed in his mouth. In a May interview he said his boxing future was in doubt, then later said he expected to be cleared to spar within a few months.

The wish list

ESPN says the list included 15 potential fights. Paul’s post, headed “Before I rest…”, names these:

• Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia, Chris Eubank and Edgar Berlanga
• Francis Ngannou, Deontay Wilder and Tom Aspinall (boxing)
• Conor McGregor, in boxing and MMA
• Nate Diaz (MMA), Sean Strickland and Darren Till
• KSI, plus a “World Title” line

That last pairing matters because KSI announced at a Misfits show on Oct 10 that he has retired from boxing, so that fight is not happening in the ring.

The Strickland exchange

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, complaining about his UFC contract, wrote unless things change with the UFC I’m kinda over it and wrote he was contemplating going to 205 pounds and scrapping with Paul, ESPN reports.

Paul replied: Sean Strickland I see your texts but are you out of contract? and added, Tell your ‘promoter’ to call MVP.

If you want the wider picture of what Paul does outside the ring, we broke down his business side in a separate story.