Jake Paul appears to have started training in Mixed Martial Arts ahead of his rumoured debut – not that everyone’s been impressed with his technique so far, with some calling out his ‘weak kicks’ on social media.
Others have also taken notice of a resurfaced clip from a few years back, in which Paul can be seen tapping out during a cage fight with American-Brazilian star AJ Agazarm.
Posting the footage on Reddit last month, one user wrote: “A lot of people forget Jake Paul got dominated by AJ Agazarm who fights at 145 and Jake is about 190 pounds, this is why Jake doesn't want to fight in MMA or fight anyone his size.”
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According to the Mirror, the clip was from May 2017 – and was originally posted on Paul’s YouTube channel, which had famously amassed five million subscribers in just six months after he made the move to the platform from Vine.
In the now-deleted video, Paul joked that taking on a UFC fighter was on his ‘bucket list’, the irony being that in the years since he has now done so three times, having fought Tyron Woodley twice and Ben Askren once.
While Agazarm was yet to make his professional debut in Bellator at the time, he clearly dominated as he controlled the fight from the top, despite being four inches shorter and having previously fought as low as 46lbs below Paul’s weight.
Meanwhile, Paul's entourage cheered him on cageside, telling him: "You got this!"
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Trying to stop himself from getting repeatedly tagged, it soon became clear that maybe he didn't quite have this - probably not helped by the fact that he was seen chowing down on doughnuts in between rounds.
After tapping out, Paul joked to his opponent from the floor: “You’re good! You’re good at this thing.”
But the YouTuber perhaps wasn’t as useless as he made out, with Agazarm admitting to the camera: “He got me in the eye... He’s a big boy.”
After Agazarm was officially named winner by submission, Paul reflected on the fight, saying: “He was hitting me in the side of the head, I don’t know if I can see right now.”
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He then asked: “How did I look though? Did it look like I sucked?”
Unsurprisingly, Paul was slated by fans for his performance against Agazarm, especially after persistently calling out the likes of Conor McGregor and Dillon Danis.
One YouTube commenter wrote: "Gets mounted by one of the best grapplers in the world, friends scream: 'JAKE ESCAPE!' Like, how? LOL."
Someone else said: "Dude is in an armbar, his friend on the side: 'You almost got him!' LOL. What a joker."
A third added: "It was fun seeing Jake get his a**e kicked, even though it's pretty easy."
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Mind you, it's now been several years since the clip was filmed, and it's safe to say a lot has happened - especially after Paul's victory over Deji Olatunji in 2018.
Maybe Paul's recent training really has got him fighting fit - stranger things have happened, let's face it.
Jess Hardiman