Jake Paul's co-promoter hits back at Dana White's 'blatant lie' about Anthony Joshua fight

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Christmas comes early for the boxing world when Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua meet on Dec. 19 in Miami, Florida.

Earlier this month, Paul and Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) revealed that his originally scheduled Netflix showcase against Gervonta Davis had collapsed due to a new civil lawsuit accusing Davis of violent behavior, battery and kidnapping, forcing all parties to pivot. In response, MVP secured a world championship-level replacement in former unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua.

The shakeup immediately generated worldwide discussion. Even UFC CEO Dana White weighed in, claiming at UFC 322's post-fight press conference that he was only learning of the matchup change in the moment. But according to MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, that version of events doesn’t match reality.

"Obviously, there's a clear distaste for Jake Paul when you're talking about, 'I want to see him get knocked out,'" Bidarian said on Monday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show." "That's been well known, and I understand the dynamic that's been built over time.

"To say [White] wasn't aware of it is a blatant lie. Dana lies on a frequent basis, so it doesn't surprise me. I know for a fact [UFC's parent company] TKO was aware of this event, of the discussions, of the conclusion, and that it was going to be announced."

White has never been shy about his stance on Paul’s boxing ventures. The UFC boss has dismissed Paul’s abilities for years and leaned into the idea that fans tune in merely hoping to see him beaten. In discussing the unexpected Joshua matchup after UFC 322, White suggested that the British Olympian would be the man finally capable of delivering that long-awaited knockout.

According to MVP’s Bidarian, however, the friction between both sides runs far deeper than public commentary. He argued that UFC’s influence has effectively created roadblocks for potential Paul opponents — particularly because so many of his most notable matchups have involved ex-UFC fighters.

"Dana White pays attention to every single thing that Jake Paul does, whether he wants to admit it or not," Bidarian said. "He pays attention to it so much that there are fighters out there who have guidance from the UFC that says, ‘Hey, if you fight with MVP or Jake Paul, you’re not welcome here anymore. You can’t come back, you can’t use the [Performance Institute], and you won’t be considered for future fights.’ That’s the reality of how deeply angered they are with what we've been able to do. It's very anticompetitive in many ways from my perspective, but it's something we've come to expect.

"‘It’s bad,’ I think [White] said [of the Joshua fight]. ... Is it bad because it's not two world-class heavyweights? It’s dangerous? That I'm not clear on. It’s a lot safer than a slap contest, where there's two people just stand in front of each other with zero defense, hitting each other as hard as they can to the face. Jake is going to be defending himself. Jake is going to be moving. It's a lot safer, less bad than that."

Joshua’s entry was immediately seen as a much more dangerous assignment for Paul — especially compared to the undersized Davis, who has never weighed more than 135 pounds in a professional bout. While Davis is the superior boxer to Paul, the size disparity gave Paul a perceived path to victory.

As with any Paul event, speculation has swirled. Many critics suggested Davis' withdrawal had less to do with legal trouble and more to do with underwhelming ticket sales. Bidarian rejected that outright, calling the assumption disconnected from how top-level media deals actually operate.

"I can tell you unequivocally, not once was that discussed at any level," Bidarian said. "We're partners with Netflix. The biggest media company in the world. It takes a lot for them to ingest a live piece of content into their system. To make a decision of that magnitude would never be driven by ticket sales.

"If somebody says, 'It must have been ticket sales,' they're obviously not operating at the largest level. No promoter, no sports media IP drives the majority of their revenue from ticket sales. It's driven by the media rights revenue. So it was never contemplated, and we felt very good about where ticket sales were.

"We reduced prices right around the time we decided to not do the event. Miami is a late-buying crowd. Anybody who lives in Miami can attest to even the days of LeBron James, it would be quiet until the third quarter. So we felt positive about the ticket sales."

As MVP searched for replacements, several top names came under consideration — including Francis Ngannou. The former UFC heavyweight champion exchanged words with Paul online after being approached but ultimately declined. Ngannou has yet to secure a boxing win since leaving the UFC and most recently rebounded in the PFL with a victory over Renan Ferreira last year.

Despite their shared PFL history, Paul and Ngannou’s relationship has cooled. And from MVP’s perspective, if Paul manages to upset Joshua, a matchup with Ngannou becomes even less logical.

"Jake has always said he would love to box Francis Ngannou," Bidarian said. "He's never said he wants to get into a cage with Francis, but he views Francis as fairly one-dimensional as a boxer, and thinks he'd have a very good night at the office against Francis. So that was the logic of calling him, that Jake wanted to do it. Netflix hadn't said yes or no [to Ngannou]. I think Francis' story is pretty accurate.

"My conclusion is Francis cannot afford to lose to Jake Paul in boxing because he's already been knocked out by Anthony Joshua. So if he wants to have any future opportunities in boxing, it certainly wouldn't serve him well to go in there against Jake Paul if he feels he can't destroy Jake Paul."

Paul’s recent wins over Mike Tyson and Julio César Chávez Jr. have emboldened him to chase the sport’s biggest names. Saul “Canelo” Álvarez was among the options targeted by "The Problem Child" before Alvarez suffered a recent loss to Terence “Bud” Crawford. Although Crawford ultimately didn't step in as a replacement for Davis, Bidarian said interest remains strong on both sides for 2026.

"From a Netflix perspective, they were very keen on Joshua, they were interested in Crawford, they were interested in Ryan Garcia as potential opponents for Jake Paul," Bidarian said. "They were interested in Tommy Fury at some level, as well. The one that Jake gravitated toward was Anthony Joshua, once it became clear Ryan couldn't do the fight as well.

"[Crawford] was very interested. They said they want to do this. The timing didn't allow for us to get to an understanding and a structure that made sense for all parties. But it's something we would like to pursue in 2026, for sure."

Despite the scale of the Joshua fight, Bidarian admitted he initially tried to steer Paul to reconsider.

But when the time came to sink or swim, the MVP duo went with the latter, leaving Paul to try and overcome one of boxing's best heavyweights of the past decade.

"When he first brought it up in March, I said, 'You're crazy. This doesn't make sense,' and he spent time telling me why it made sense," Bidarian said. "In July, he was very keen on ensuring that it was happening in March, April of 2026. I think around September, October timeframe, I had gotten him to a place to see a plan where it was Gervonta, then a couple of other fights, then look at 'AJ' at the tail-end of 2026 or early 2027.

"I wanted Jake to get more in-ring experience, get back to being at a heavier weight after going down for Gervonta. I feel like we were starting to align on that strategy. That's the background of it. When everything fell apart, and you call an audible of this magnitude on such a short timeframe, there's a lot of risks that go into that."