Demetrious Johnson is going out on a limb for next week’s Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight.

The vast majority of prognosticators expect Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion, to make short work of Paul so long as he takes the fight seriously, though the unexpected booking of the bout also has observers scrambling to get an accurate read on exactly what’s going to happen on Dec. 19 in Miami.

However, “Mighty Mouse” is happy to step up and say that Paul could actually pull off an upset for the ages.

“I think Jake can knock him out,” Johnson said on the MIGHTYcast. “I think Jake’s taking it serious. I think Jake can knock him out. OK, I’m going to go on record right now. Anthony Joshua’s been knocked out by some weird-ass shots before. Andy Ruiz. [Daniel] Dubois knocked him out with a short overhand right, right? Jake Paul can land one of those shots. He can.

“Boxing is a sport where everybody’s got a puncher’s chance, that’s why we’re all watching, right? But if Anthony Joshua doesn’t get on his bicycle and start moving around and fight Jake Paul like, ‘Pop, oh, you missed. Pop pop.’ Use that range, start hitting the body, make Jake Paul work, make him miss. Yeah, he can destroy Jake Paul, but I don’t see that happening. … Maybe I don’t know shit about boxing, but I feel that Jake Paul could potentially knock out Anthony Joshua.”

Johnson is correct in that Joshua has suffered a couple of knockout losses in his 32-fight career, losing to the aforementioned Andy Ruiz in what was viewed as a massive upset and to Daniel Dubois in his most recent fight in September 2024. For the most part, the British slugger has been the one dishing out the punishment, with 25 of his 28 wins coming by way of KO/TKO.

That includes a demolishing of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, a result that prompted Johnson to bring out a few examples from his world of MMA to explain why Joshua might not be as effective against Paul.

“I mean, Ngannou, it’s like this: If you spar somebody who’s super technical, who throws straight punches, who throws things orthodox, who throws things straight like a jab, you do well against them,” Johnson said. “But you take a guy like [Dricus du Plessis], his style is so f*cking chaotic, he’s throwing punches like this and shit and he’s beating world-class strikers like Izzy Adesanya, out-striking them. That’s where Anthony Joshua has the hardest time is when he fights people who throw weird shit.

“Like, that shot he got hit with Dubois, it was like the weirdest f*cking shot and everybody’s like, ‘You got knocked out by that?’ Andy Ruiz, he was outboxing him, he was piecing him up, and then Ruiz went like this, threw a combination like that, hit him on the top of the head, knocked him out.

“I can see Jake Paul doing the exact same thing to Anthony Joshua.”

Paul, a YouTube star and social media influencer, has faced a wide range of opponents since turning pro in 2020, from past-their-prime MMA stars to lesser known boxers with similar experience to NBA veterans to, well, Mike Tyson. Based on the vast gap in ring time, Johnson acknowledges that if Joshua takes the bout seriously and takes care of business, Paul has a considerably lower chance of shocking the world.

“If Anthony Joshua comes out and fights like he’s been a world champion before and all that experience, he should put Jake Paul to sleep,” Johnson said.

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VIDEO STEW

UFC Vegas 112 preview show live at 3 p.m. ET.

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck chats with Manel Kape ahead of Saturday’s main event.

ICYMI, check out the latest episode of Between the Links.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Volk, is that you?

Fight Pass update :\

No days off.

Nine years in the making.

Not liking DDP’s chances in a Chimaev rematch tbh

I guess they’re OK.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Michael Oleksiejczuk (21-9, 1 NC) vs. Marc-Andre Barriault (17-10, 1 NC); UFC Vegas 113, Feb. 7

FINAL THOUGHTS

One last UFC fight card for 2025. Whew, we made it!

It wasn’t all fun times, but there were still some high highs to go along with some forgettable lows. After this, it’s six weeks until you see fighters step into the octagon again. Use your time, wisely (which is to say, Jake vs. Joshua, next Friday!).

EXIT POLL

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