Dana White says Jake Paul 'could have f***ing died' in Anthony Joshua fight

White called the fight being allowed to happen "the craziest f***ing thing in the world" to him, and dismissed Paul's reported claim that the UFC is losing its appeal as "the dumbest f***ing thing" he had heard.

Dana White says Jake Paul "could have f***ing died" in his fight with Anthony Joshua, and that the bout being allowed to go ahead is "the craziest f***ing thing in the world" to him.

"The fact that the Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua fight was allowed to happen is the craziest f***ing thing in the world to me," White said in an interview, when asked whether Paul had helped or hurt boxing. "You know, he, he broke his f***ing face ... broke his jaw ... But he could have f***ing died in that fight."

Joshua knocked Paul out in December 2025, and Paul fractured his jaw in the defeat. White said Paul was "diving at his knees the whole f***ing fight, which is the game plan if you go in with a professional f***ing heavyweight". He added: "It's f***ing crazy, and it's lucky that all he got was a broken jaw."

White credited Paul with introducing "a lot of young people to the sport of boxing", but said of influencer fights: "You're never gonna turn off the TV and say, that was f***ing incredible, what a great night. And it's just never gonna happen."

Told that Paul had said the UFC is losing its appeal, and had offered to sell White his company, White said: "That's the dumbest f***ing thing I've ever heard in my life." He pointed to the UFC's recent gates. "We just went to Crypto Arena, formerly Staples. We just broke the all-time f***ing gate record," he said, adding that the UFC sold out in Serbia "in 15 or 20 minutes". "The business has never been better, never been bigger," White said. "If our business was in trouble, I wouldn't be going into boxing right now."

It is not the first time White has spoken out about the fight. When it was announced in November 2025, he told reporters: "That's a bad idea." After the fight, he told the Plan Bri Uncut podcast: "When you go in there and box a guy like AJ, this isn't a joke. This isn't a game. That could kill him." He also called it "a ballsy move".

Paul faces Cedric Doumbe at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on 24 December, his first fight since the Joshua defeat. He has already turned White's own words on him over Deontay Wilder's fight with Jai Opetaia.

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