“He’s (Dana) not smart enough… Just look at what he’s doing.” Stating that it is “dying,” Jake Paul slammed Dana White and the UFC over the White House card three weeks ago. Those comments now tie directly into his broader plan to challenge the promotion’s grip on MMA.

He has a game plan that potentially threatens White & Co.’s hold over MMA, and Francis Ngannou emerging as a catalyst in shaping that blueprint only adds to the stakes. Building on that idea, speaking with Complex’s Matt Welty, Jake Paul underscored why he believes the shift is necessary.

“It’s needed. It’s very, very needed in the sport,” he stated. “You know, I think it’s been a monopoly for so long, run by the UFC, and the fighters haven’t had another place to go where they get the exposure and more pay.”

“And so MVP MMA is providing that with some of the biggest names and obviously the biggest streaming platform. And so it’s really a monumental shift in the timeline for MMA fighters and for MMA fans because we want to provide the best and the biggest fights and go head-to-head with the big dogs, and it’s just a very exciting time for everyone because of that.”

That vision is already starting to take shape. The presence of two former UFC champions at Paul’s upcoming MMA event highlights the intent behind that effort. Headlined by icon Ronda Rousey, the card also features former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Just two weeks remain before the showdown that his promotion, MVP (Most Valuable Promotions), has set up at Inglewood, California’s Intuit Dome.

Speaking with Welty, Paul also made it clear how he intends to build on that momentum by targeting recognizable names.

“I think we just poach all of them honestly,” he remarked. Get the fighters what they deserve to be paid, similar to boxing. And you know that’s why a lot of the UFC guys want to box is because they can get 10, 15, 20 million for a fight versus, you know, $1.5 million for being the champion.”

At the same time, he acknowledged the limits of that strategy. He made it clear he wasn’t in talks with any active fighters on the UFC roster. Since they are contractually bound, that would be an “illegal” move.

Outside of those bounds, Jake Paul pointed to a tempting alternative for UFC fighters, using what Francis Ngannou did in the recent past as an example.

Jake Paul tells UFC fighters to take a page from Francis Ngannou

After the acrimonious ending to his contract with the UFC, the Cameroonian-French fighter mapped out a path in boxing, where he ended up facing top names like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

While the results inside the ring were far from encouraging, the financial upside told a different story, with earnings that far outweighed what he made during his UFC tenure.

“Hopefully, UFC fighters can start to follow the path of Francis Ngannou,” Paul told Welty, “where he fought his way out of his contract and went on to do multiple boxing matches for 20, 30, 40 million dollars.”

“Now he’s fighting for MVP MMA, making more than the whole UFC roster combined. So, hopefully, fighters can realize they need to fight their way out of their UFC contract and then find more lucrative opportunities elsewhere, with the same or more amount of viewership. Because I think the reason they’ve wanted to stay is, ‘OK, the pay is not good, but this is the best place to become famous.’ ‘And it’s like, No, not anymore.”

Notably, while Paul pointed to that path, Ngannou has since returned to MMA after the KO loss to Joshua, going on to become PFL’s symbolic heavyweight champion.

Even so, the larger issue Paul raised continues to resonate. With White’s attention now extending to the newly formed Zuffa Boxing, there have already been murmurs about the pay gap between those fighting in the ring and those in the octagon.

If those gaps are not addressed, despite recent assurances, Paul’s argument may carry more weight in the months ahead, with the possibility of more high-profile names exploring opportunities beyond the UFC.