Jake Paul made waves at UFC 306 by attending the event in disguise, claiming he was banned from UFC events by Dana White. Dressed as an old man, Paul even posted a video showing off his sneaky entrance. But when asked about it, the UFC president set the record straight, saying, “Oscar De La Hoya was there, nobody’s banned”.
White laughed off Paul’s antics, making it clear that no one, including the ‘Problem Child’, was banned from attending UFC events. It seems like the whole thing was just another one of the younger Paul brother’s stunts!
The UFC head honcho recently sat down with the media following Tuesday night’s contender series, where he was asked about what he made of Paul’s disguise video and if he had seen that. The 55-year-old simply said,
“Listen, Oscar De La Hoya was there okay? Let’s put it that way. Nobody is banned from the UFC. Listen that kid, knows how to market and do his thing and all that good stuff. Jake Paul is welcome to come to the UFC. He just can’t bring that… you know.”
Dana White reacts to Jake Paul sneaking into #NocheUFC with a costume on:
“Oscar De La Hoya was there… nobody’s banned from the UFC… Jake Paul’s welcome to come to UFC.”#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/pRUkB0X0So
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 18, 2024
Paul and the UFC CEO have a long-running feud, and it’s no secret that the two don’t exactly like each other. According to Paul, their rocky relationship even got him banned from attending UFC events.
White has often been critical of Paul’s boxing prowess, rightfully claiming that the only time he fought a professional boxer who was the same age as him, he had lost. Paul, on the other hand, has called out White over fighter pay.
Then there was a heated moment with UFC commentator Daniel Cormier at UFC 261, where fans chanted “f*ck Jake Paul” in the arena.
Paul then claimed on his podcast that after that incident, White banned him, saying, “I tried to go to another fight, but all our tickets were declined”.
At this point in time, it is difficult to believe either side completely. However, given that journalist Ariel Helwani was also at UFC Noche, there might be some truth to White’s side of the story.
UFC overturning all bans?
The veteran combat sports journalist was banned in 2016 after he had allegedly leaked the news about the return of Brock Lesnar for UFC 200. This had enraged White who banned Helwani from all UFC events.
Helwani also had a habit of asking difficult questions during interviews and pressers, which White has never really appreciated.
However, at UFC 306, Helwani posted photos from inside The Sphere suggesting that he was in attendance. How this came about, nobody knows yet.
But it is highly unlikely that White has forgiven Helwani and all is back to normal. It might just be a case of just this event. Regardless, the MMA community should be getting an update from it from either White or Helwani soon enough.
