Ranking the 5 Best Options for Jake Paul's Next Fight

Another circus has come and gone.

And the crossover empire created one of the most polarizing athletes in modern sport—social media giant Jake Paul—lives to fight another day.

The undisputed champion of the YouTube sensation-turned-boxer set, Paul reached another level of significance on Saturday night when he handled UFC legend Anderson Silva over eight compelling and entertaining rounds atop a pay-per-view card in metro Phoenix.

That Silva was 47 years old and had achieved little of significance in the ring was a mere footnote to the show, which was broadcast by Showtime's PPV arm, distributed for $59.99 plus tax and leaned heavily on the Brazilian's street cred as an octagonal boogeyman.

That said, Paul had to rally after some early adversity and managed to drop his foe in the final round to cement his unanimous victory on the scorecards and improve to 6-0 as a pro.

Now that he's done so, the focus turns toward his next trip to the big top and which of any number of possible co-stars he'll choose to join him in center ring. The B/R combat team surveyed the landscape and came up with five options that'd make varying levels of sense.

Scroll through to see what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

OK, this one doesn't exactly fit the headline.

But given his ascension to Dana White's No. 1 nemesis, you'd have to think at least a little piece of the self-anointed "Problem Child" would like to drive the thorn deeper.

And what better way to torment the UFC's head honcho than to set up shop alongside?

Paul has become a persistent and high-volume advocate for increased fighter pay, seizing on a narrative that's dogged White and his octagonal empire for a while.

In fact, Paul and Silva made a deal before their fight that the Brazilian legend, if he lost, would help his conqueror with the groundwork for establishing a fighters' union.

Silva referenced the promise at his post-fight press conference, saying "It's a unit for help and doing something better for MMA fighters. And I think Jake and I can do something huge to help this new generation."

It's not a huge leap from starting a union to going ahead and starting an organization of your own, and if Paul decides that's where he can deal White the most telling blow it might be an appealing choice to consider—particularly if the opponent pipeline dries up.

With all respect to Paul and what he's accomplished, this is crazy talk.

He's got as good a chance of landing a Canelo Alvarez fight as he does of winning the White House in 2024. And if the fight does somehow come off, he's got less chance of winning it.

But that didn't stop him from trolling the four-division title claimant and reigning undisputed champion at 168 pounds in the afterglow of his defeat of Silva on Saturday night.

"You, too, Canelo," he said.

"You’re getting old. You looked weird against Triple-G. I still want that fight as well. And I think now, like I said it 18 months ago, 'I want Canelo!' And then everyone, I was sitting in a room just like this said, and everyone was like, ‘[Laughing at me]. F--king idiot, yeah.’ And then now, 18 months later, here we are.

"And when I say that, maybe people are taking it a little bit more seriously now. And I still mean it. And I still want that fight."

Alvarez has summarily dismissed the idea of a showdown, and it's better for Paul that he does, because it'd not go nearly as well for him with a schooled and generationally talented boxer who's only 32—considering he had all that he wanted from a near-50-year-old MMA star who'd had exactly four boxing matches before the weekend.

At the intersection of proximity and desire lies Uriah Hall.

The recently retired UFC competitor returned to the combat sports space in an early fight on Saturday's show, beating on ex-NFLer Le'Veon Bell for most of 12 minutes on the way to a unanimous decision in their four-rounder at cruiserweight.

And in the aftermath of the victory over a football player making his pro boxing debut, Hall decided he'd use the platform to throw his hat in the Paul ring.

"I definitely think I could give him a challenge, because I’ll come at him," Hall said. "He’ll hit me, but I’ll come at him. I don’t back up with boxing gloves on. I take a couple shots, but I’ll come at you. Le’Veon was probably one of the hardest-hitting dudes with those gloves on that I’ve ever felt. I don’t think Jake hits that hard. Yeah, bro, you don’t. Yeah, I said it."

Hall was actually Silva's last opponent in the Octagon and defeated him by fourth-round TKO atop a Fight Night show two years ago.

Hall went 1-2 in three subsequent fights before retiring from MMA in August.

The defeat of Bell and Paul's win over Silva, though, have apparently rekindled the fire and has the Jamaican-born New Yorker angling for revenge since Paul is now 4-0 against ex-UFC fighters, having defeated Silva, Tyron Woodley twice and Ben Askren.

"If the opportunity strikes, I’ll definitely do it," Hall said.

"I love to compete. I’m still in my prime. I still got some more miles on me. If something comes my way, I’m doing it. For the most part, I’m just having fun. If there’s a potential chance to kick that dude’s ass, f--k yeah, I’ll do it."

If it feels like you've heard this one before, you have.

Tommy Fury made his U.S. boxing debut on the undercard of Paul's first fight with Tyron Woodley in August 2021 and was immediately penciled in as the next opponent for a planned date in Paul's Cleveland stomping grounds.

The fight was set for four months later in Tampa, Florida, but Fury missed his opportunity when he pulled out with what he claimed to be a broken rib and a bacterial infection.

Woodley stepped in for a rematch in Fury's place and was erased in one of 2021's highlight knockouts, and his absence only intensified the enmity between the social media giants turned boxers. A match was again discussed for the summer of 2022 but went haywire when Fury was denied entry to the United States because of visa issues.

Fury has fought just once since the date on the Paul show in Cleveland, outpointing Daniel Bocianski over six rounds on the April 23 undercard of half-brother Tyson Fury's defeat of Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in London.

Not surprisingly, Tommy Fury was interested in the Silva fight and took a chance in the run-up to nudge Paul, suggesting on Instagram (via talksport.com) that he'd "smash all the front of [Paul's] face in" sometime next year.

Paul seems open to the idea of a third try, too, suggesting on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani that he'd embrace the idea of playing the villain on Fury's home turf.

"I love going to those crowds because they all boo me, and I shut them up. I like playing the role of the heel, especially in the UK," he said. "There's definitely interest, I think if his team is taking the financial risk and putting the event on then I'm cool. I just don't want to take that risk because I think he's going to back out again, most likely."

It's all over but the rumble at a press conference.

Nate Diaz's commitment to the UFC ended after his defeat of Tony Ferguson in September and he immediately said he planned to show his fellow MMA fighters how to take over another sport in a way that rival Conor McGregor wasn't able to do.

And there he was in the audience at Paul's show, though he apparently left the building before the main event after training partner Chris Avila won an undercard bout.

His presence was felt and his absence was noted by Paul following the defeat of Silva, prompting the winner to issue an incendiary callout while referencing a pre-fight incident in which Diaz slapped a member of Paul's team.

"I want Nate Diaz, who’s a b--ch," Paul said.

"He tried to come into my locker room. He tried to cause some s--t, and then he always leaves the f--king arena. So Nate Diaz, stop being a b--ch and fight me."

Diaz, a wildly popular 15-year veteran of the UFC after arriving in 2007, split a pair of bouts with McGregor in 2016 that each did more than a million pay-per-view buys. He was also a main-event participant against Jorge Masvidal in a 2019 fight that sold out Madison Square Garden and drew a live gate of better than $6 million.

His MMA style leaned heavily on striking in recent years, though he holds a black belt in jiu-jitsu and racked up more than half his wins by submission. The run-up to his fights with McGregor and Masvidal was memorably intense, and it's easy to see the animosity between he and Paul prompting the same sort of interactions if they were to meet.

And Paul was not at all shy in lobbing the first grenade.

"(Diaz is) like slow and at the end of his career," he told The MMA Hour. "He’s lost it as far as striking. Maybe he still has jiu-jitsu, but as far as striking and all that, he’s just like a street fighter. Boxing is like the purest sport. It’s art, and you can’t come in and street-fight someone in a boxing match. Anderson has length, has the height. Anderson hits harder, is more slippery, has better head movement, the list goes on. I know so that Nate is easier."