‘Just get the tattoo’ - Paul responds to Woodley rematch demands
Tyron Woodley says he’ll get the ‘I love Jake Paul’ tattoo he agreed to, only on the condition that Paul agrees to a rematch of their recent PPV boxing bout.
Among the many comic storylines surrounding Tyron Woodley’s decision loss to Jake Paul last month – in the former UFC champion’s pro boxing debut – was the tattoo bet the two men made before the fight. Had Paul lost the bout, he was to get inked with an ‘I Love Tyron Woodley’ tat. For Woodley, a failure to get his hand raised was supposed to mean sporting the phrase ‘I Love Jake Paul’ for the rest of his life.
Only, of course, once push came to shove and the final scores were read, proclaiming Paul to be the victor, the tattoo bet turned into an immediate point of contention. A new offer was seemingly being bargained in the cage, with the tattoo now a contingency for a potential rematch.
“The original bet was, the loser gets the tattoo,” Woodley explained in a video uploaded to his social media accounts. “In the ring... a new bet was presented that, in my opinion, superseded the previous bet... And that bet said, if you get the tattoo, then we can run it back. We both said ‘bet.’ He said ‘bet.’ We shook hands. So, that’s the bet that I’m trying to facilitate. And the rematch has to happen, I agree. And yeah, if we get the paperwork, of course...”
If Woodley is hoping to get the rematch signed before he gets the tattoo, however, it seems like he may be waiting a real long time. In a recent interview with the Full Send podcast, Paul made it clear that he needs to see the tattoo on Woodley’s body before he even considers booking another fight with the former UFC welterweight champ.
“I’m like, ‘Where’s the tattoo?’ Now he’s saying you have to sign the contract and then I’ll get the tattoo,” Paul explained (transcript via MMA Fighting). “The tattoo was a bet before this fight. It was the loser had to get the tattoo. So now he’s trying to change it to make it for the rematch. It doesn’t make sense [to fight him again]. If he would have gotten the tattoo now and that clip goes viral and everyone’s like ‘Jake do it,’ I’d be like, ‘I kind of have to do this.’ But he f-cked up.
“He’s saying, ‘Oh, I’ll get it once you sign the contract.’ No, you f-cked up. Just get the tattoo and let me decide from there. But I think it’s on to bigger and better things. I want to fight a real boxer. We’ll see what the cards have in store.”
In Woodley’s stead, Paul is now targeting a fight with Tommy Fury, younger half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. The 22-year-old is currently 7-0 as a pro boxer, and has a sizeable social media following due to his time on season five of British reality show Love Island. Fury most recently fought on the undercard of the Paul/Woodley PPV, defeating former Bellator fighter Anthony Taylor in a 4-round decision.
“I think Tommy Fury’s probably at the top of that list,” Paul replied, when asked about his next bout. “He’s skilled. He’s undefeated. He’s [Tyson Fury’s brother] and he’s a real boxer. He has like four million followers on Instagram, good engagement. He has the fans from the relationship thing, like they fell in love on a show or some sh-t like that.”
Paul’s bout against Ben Askren may have perfectly positioned Woodley for his own match with the former Disney actor and YouTube star, but if he wants another piece of the pseudo-celebrity boxing pie it seems as though he’ll likely need to bring something more to the table. Something along the lines of a bit of degrading body art. And until that happens, it seems Paul will have no shortage of other takers to face him in the ring.