Jake Paul vs Dana White: Is Paul just building buzz or taking a real stand about UFC fighter pay?

It’s hard to decipher some of Jake Paul’s antics, and, frankly, it may be the wisest course of action to ignore him, because the sideshow threatens to become the center ring attraction.

The YouTube fixture turned pro pugilist and provocateur has another boxing match planned for August 28, against Tyron Woodley, a UFC mainstay who slid hard, having lost his last four straight.

So it makes sense that Paul would be taking shots at UFC figurehead Dana White, because White likes to indulge in shit talk on social media, and those beefs get buzz. And it makes sense that Paul posted a Tweet which took White to task for his personality. And it makes sense if you choose to ignore all matters Paul, Jake and Logan, because you prefer pre-Kardashian-style hyping.

But where I got a little twisted up is when Paul went at White for how he’s treated his fighters, and he went for a sore spot, which he looked to exploit. Points to Paul for being a clever and bold rabble-rouser, I think, as evidenced by his slam at White for being greedy, and looking for a cut of Conor McGregor’s purse for the 2017 fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Paul is functioning as a new breed of labor leader when he goes at White, saying that “every major fighter on your roster has complained about pay” and ends his direct public message thusly: “Pay your fighters more.”

When Jake refers to White as “a bald bum,” that’s par for the course shit talking, which will gain Paul some attention and have a few more people consider buying the August PPV.

Roasting White for being a mere cardio kickboxing instructor before he blew up into the mogul he is today, that’s to be expected.

Yeah, not sure if this is accidental activism, or Jake Paul is agitating not just to bolster his own profile, but because he wants people who risk their lives fighting to be paid accordingly. It’s impossible to decipher, actually.