Jake Paul’s boxing story has always lived somewhere between spectacle and ambition. One moment, he’s preparing for Gervonta Davis. Next, he’s stepping into an eight-round heavyweight showdown with Anthony Joshua on Netflix, the kind of fight no one could have imagined five years ago. But behind the scenes, as Paul searched for a replacement after Davis withdrew, another name came up.

Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, the man who dropped Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut and lost a controversial decision, but later got flattened by Joshua. When Ngannou told TMZ he was approached about replacing Davis and immediately said no, fans demanded answers. And now, ‘The Problem Child’s Paul’s business partner and MVP Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian has finally revealed the true reason behind his refusal!

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Bidarian explained how Ngannou landed on the shortlist of options as he stated, “Francis was one of those names where I was making calls to get a list together of potential opponents to discuss with Netflix.” According to him, Jake Paul wanted the fight. Netflix hadn’t agreed yet, but the inquiry was real. Bidarian admitted Paul viewed Ngannou as “fairly one-dimensional as a boxer” and believed he’d “have a very good night at the office” against him.

Ngannou’s response? Exactly as he told TMZ, “No, bro, come on. Don’t disrespect me like that’. It’s not about the number. I am not interested. It makes no sense.”

Bidarian, however, didn’t buy that as the real reason. He told Helwani, “I was, I was very surprised. And then in talking to Jake and his team and to others, my conclusion is Francis cannot afford to lose to Jake Paul, right? In boxing, because he’s already been knocked out by Anthony Joshua.”

In other words? Francis Ngannou may not fear Paul physically, but he fears what losing to Paul would do to his career. But Nakisa Bidarian didn’t stop there. He continued with a bombshell, “And I have to honestly believe in Francis’ heart of hearts, he knows Jake has been boxing for five years now as a professional. He is not a one-dimensional fighter, and it would be a difficult fight for him. It’s  beneath him or below him, it’s kind of ironic that Jake is fighting Anthony Joshua, I guess.”

As such, Francis Ngannou has made his stance clear. He felt the offer was disrespectful. The weight gap made no sense. And he believes Paul is nowhere near his level. But Bidarian’s explanation paints a different picture, one where ‘The Predator’ may see Paul as a risk, not a mismatch.

Meanwhile, Jake Paul continues ascending. Millions watched him take on  Mike Tyson. Millions more watched him beat Julio César Chávez Jr., and on December 19, he’ll stand across the ring from Anthony Joshua, a former unified heavyweight champion with one of the most devastating knockout résumés in modern boxing. But despite that, he didn’t shy away from taking a jab at Ngannou himself!

Jake Paul goes off on “idiot” Francis Ngannou for turning down Netflix clash against him

Jake Paul still can’t wrap his head around Francis Ngannou’s decision to pass on replacing Gervonta Davis. The opportunity was historic: a Netflix main event, a massive global platform, and a chance for Ngannou to rebound from a brutal knockout loss to Joshua. Instead, Ngannou dismissed the idea as “disrespectful.” And that’s where Paul took offense.

Speaking to MMA Junkie, the social media star turned boxer stated, “Yeah, I just thought – I mean, he’s just an idiot. I’m like, ‘Yo, what are you doing?’ If you’re so confident, if you feel so disrespected, you’re having all this bad publicity about your name over the past year, year and half, this is your opportunity to correct that and stop me.” ”

Paul pointed to the past year of headlines surrounding Ngannou, with the Joshua knockout, the public disputes with PFL, long layoffs, and personal tragedy. In Paul’s mind, taking this fight would’ve allowed Ngannou to reset his narrative. Instead, the heavyweight moved on.

And ‘The Problem Child’ didn’t stop there. Ngannou had apparently criticized Mike Tyson for stepping into the ring with Paul, which led him to fire back with, “Francis, you’re nowhere near the legend, and you never will be even close to the legend of Mike Tyson, and you’re saying it’s disrespectful to get in the ring.”

With that, the gap between the two narratives is almost cinematic. On one side, Francis Ngannou insists the offer was absurd, a mismatch in size, status, and logic. On the other hand, Nakisa Bidarian frames the refusal as something far more human: self-preservation. A career calculation. A heavyweight wary of risking what little leverage he still holds after a devastating knockout loss.

Jake Paul, naturally, takes the third angle, the confrontational one. To him, ‘The Predator’ didn’t walk away from nonsense. He walked away from accountability. And from a spotlight big enough to flip every headline hovering over his name!