Logan Paul In Talks To Make His MMA Debut, Tito Ortiz Advising Him

YouTuber Logan Paul's switch to MMA is progressing, with the 24-year old believing his next bout will be inside the Octagon.

Paul recently lost out to rival KSI on points in his professional boxing debut at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, with the fight doing more UK pay-per-view buys than Anthony Joshua's shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in June.

There had been talk of a third fight between the pair but Paul is pressing forward with plans to move into MMA.

"We were talking about MMA honestly," Paul told DAZN. "Boxing is cool, but I feel like my future is in MMA... I will be fighting a third time

"I don't know if it will be against KSI. If I were KSI, I wouldn't fight me again. That seems silly. The circumstances really worked out for him that day. It just seems like it would be really dangerous for him."

Former boxing champion Shannon Briggs was Paul's trainer for his bout last month and Paul is set to receive similar assistance in martial arts from MMA legend Tito Ortiz - though he doesn't want to move things too quickly.

"When a young guy like that who happened just to have a bright mind and strong and wanna work hard, it's good to see," the 44-year old told Little Giant Boxing (h/t BJ Penn).

"You wanna make sure you build guys the right way. When they're young, they gotta be built the right way, they gotta do the right things so I couldn't give an opponent. I wanna make sure how good he was in MMA in general."

With Paul's profile and amateur wrestling background, former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley feels as though it's in UFC's best interests to draft Paul in for a couple of fights.

Image: PA

"To be honest, when the UFC brought over CM Punk, I don't know why they wouldn't bring over Logan Paul," Woodley said on TMZ's "The Hollywood Beatdown".

"Logan Paul is the exact same demographic, 18 to 30 years old. The exact YouTubers that are watching his stuff are the same ones that are watching the UFC. He has a huge following. Great deal. He looks athletic, he's a Division I wrestler, he's insane, and he's going to talk a lot of sh*t so the press conferences are going to be insane.

"After this last event, I wouldn't be surprised in the next two months we see some breaking news of Logan Paul getting a couple-fight deal with the UFC."

Topics: Logan Paul, MMA News, UFC, MMA

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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