Paul cleared to fight; Canelo, Strickland, others on wish list

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  Brett OkamotoOct 8, 2026, 01:46 PM ET

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  Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.

Jake Paul has been medically cleared to return to boxing.

Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) has not fought since he suffered a broken jaw during his knockout loss to Anthony Joshua last December. The 29-year-old underwent surgical procedures on his jaw in December and February. Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Paul's Most Valuable Promotions, officially updated Paul's status on Thursday.

"Jake Paul has been cleared to return to the boxing ring," Bidarian wrote on X.

Paul told ESPN in April that he'd resumed light training but had not been cleared to spar. He has targeted a full return to competition in early 2027.

In connection to the update on his health, Paul provided his latest wish list of eventual fights this week. The list included 15 proposed fights, including names like Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia, Francis Ngannou, Deontay Wilder in boxing matches -- as well as mixed martial arts contests against Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.

The list also included UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland (31-7), who linked himself to Paul this week in a series of frustrated posts online about his UFC contract.

"I gotta be honest, unless things change with the UFC I'm kinda over it," Strickland wrote on X. "McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 seconds and they don't want to pay us a fraction of it. Contemplating just going to 205 [pounds], knocking out my contract and scrapping with [Jake Paul]. That sounds fun."

Paul, who has been vocal for years along with MVP in encouraging the UFC to increase its fighter pay, acknowledged Strickland's post in a response.

"Sean Strickland I see your texts but are you out of contract?," Paul wrote. "Tell your 'promoter' to call MVP."