DANIEL CORMIER admitted he has ‘no interest’ in training Jake Paul – and reckons the YouTuber’s switch to MMA ‘seems like a ploy’.
Paul is 5-0 as a boxer but recently revealed plans to one day make a move to the cage.
He later claimed Javier Mendez – who has coached the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Cormier – would be his choice of MMA trainer.
But former two-weight UFC champion DC would not be lending his knowledge to Paul, who once called him out to a fight.
Cormier, 42, told The Schmo: “No, I have no interest in that. It seems like a lot of ploys, right? It’s always ploys.
“I don’t know how true much of it is, but it seems like a ploy to me, so I’m not going to play that game.”
Paul, 24, most recently knocked out ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley in their December rematch, four months after initially winning on points.
It added to KO’s over YouTuber ‘AnEsonGib’, ex-NBA player Nate Robinson, 37, and retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren, 37.
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Soon after, he called out UFC pair Jorge Masvidal, 37 and Nate Diaz, 36, to continue his rivalry with the UFC and promoter Dana White.
Paul then claimed he would fight Masvidal in the UFC, so long as White accepted his terms.
The demands were as follows: “1) Increase min fighter pay per fight to $50k (it’s $12k now).
“2) Guarantee UFC fighters 50% of UFC annual revenues ($1bn in 2021).
“3) Provide long term healthcare to all fighters (you previously said brain damage is part of the gig… imagine the NFL said that).
“There are many UFC alums who have publicly said they are suffering from brain damage.”
American Kickboxing Academy head coach Mendez denied ever agreeing to train Paul, but would be open to the idea if his gym stable were on board.
He said: “It could happen. But like anybody, we have to go through all the coaches and all the fighters that are here and anybody that’s a famous athlete like him.
“They will go through the routine that everybody does, so he would have to get voted by everybody.
“First of all, he’s never asked. What he’s done is he’s marketed himself beautifully.
“I loved the plug he gave us, I think it was a fantastic plug and I think he’s a fantastic person.
“But the reality is no matter who you are, you have to go through the team to get consent to train with us.
“He hasn’t been given consent because he hasn’t asked. It’s not that he won’t [be approved], I just know he hasn’t asked.
“If he does get denied, he won’t know who denied him, because we don’t say that.”
