Former UFC champion Anthony Pettis has backed Jake Paul after his fight with Hasim Rahman Jr was cancelled on just a weeks' notice.
The lightweight star is currently preparing for a semi-final play-off showdown in New York City with Stevie Ray, in the same venue as Paul was supposed to face Rahman Jr the following night. And he had made plans to stick around for the fight night after his Friday rematch with Scottish rival Ray.
Paul had signed to face Rahman Jr at 200lb, or cruiserweight, and was willing to allow him a further 5lb after it emerged that he would struggle to make the limit. But Rahman Jr's team reportedly insisted on a further 10lb in order to make the fight happen.
And Pettis was disappointed to see the bout cancelled, having watched him lose out on two fights with Tommy Fury in recent months as well. The last time Fury pulled out, it was Pettis' former teammate Tyron Woodley who jumped in on short notice, but there was no such replacement for Rahman Jr, who was initially a short-notice change from the Brit in his own right.
"It sucks man because Jake Paul is actually training for these fights," Pettis told Mirror Fighting ahead of his bout with Ray at the Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden this weekend. "And I think he had a couple of opponents drop out on him.
"I actually know Nakisa [Bidarian] very well, Nakisa is the man who is helping Jake Paul promote. I think it sucks that he lost out. I think a lot of people would have come out for that, I was planning to stay to watch that."
Pettis has insisted that he plans to box professionally at some point before his legendary career draws to a close, perhaps as soon as the end of this PFL season. And he has spoken to Bidarian, with the possibility of working with him and Paul on a future event not ruled out.
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"I just texted Nakisa, I saw he put out a response to Dana White who said some stuff about how Jake couldn't sell enough tickets. I support all these brands, I like what Jake Paul is doing.
"The more options fighters have the more opportunities we have and I like what they're doing. Jake wants fighters to get paid more, he's a big advocate for that and that's only better for us as fighters."
Pettis is already making massive money as part of the PFL and stands to win $1million more if he can get past Ray and the winner of the other play-off between Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Alex Martinez over the coming months.
Anthony Pettis fights Stevie Ray in the main event of the PFL lightweight play-offs on Friday night. The event will be shown live on Channel 4 from midnight.
