Jake Paul’s Christmas Eve fight gets big pass from Netflix

Ryan Harkness breaks down daily mixed martial arts (MMA) news, providing unique context to stories that only 15 years of obsessing over the sport can provide, having worked for FOX Sports, Yahoo! Sports, UPROXX, MSN, Bleacher Report, HDNet and CagePotato, among others, before joining MMAmania.com in 2017.

Jake Paul will return to boxing following a jaw-breaking loss to Anthony Joshua last December, but that return won’t air on Netflix according to multiple sources.

Paul and Netflix have worked together numerous times, getting in bed for the massive Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight then following it up with Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3, the aforementioned Paul vs. Joshua, and this year’s MVP MMA 1 featuring Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.

But Paul’s recently announced comeback fight on Christmas eve in Dubai isn’t going to broadcast on Netflix, according to New York Post’s Erich Richter. While no opponent has been announced just yet, multiple reports have former UFC contender Darren Till as the most likely choice.

Is Till not a big enough opponent to warrant a Netflix deal? Is Jake Paul’s star fading after getting his face literally smashed last December? Those could be factors, but the biggest reason Netflix isn’t interested is because of major changes inside the company. Following stalled growth reports from inside the company, Netflix head Ted Sarandos decapitated the streaming company’s content department, firing Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria and head of film Dan Lin.

Bajaria was MVP co-owner Nakisa Bidarian’s biggest ally within Netflix, leaving the combat sports promotion cut adrift while the streamer restructures itself and establishes a plan to turn around its sagging numbers.

The good news? Sports is widely considered an area that Netflix could expand on, but that reportedly won’t happen quickly enough to make Jake Paul’s Christmas dreams come true. Paul isn’t in a bad position, though, despite missing out on the biggest distribution option for his fight.

Saudi Arabia is looking for partners still willing to stage events in the country despite war with neighboring country Yemen and the re-escalation of war with Iran. Paul seemed cut off from that revenue stream after Saudi boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh used his clout to cancel a potential Jake Paul vs. Canelo Alvarez fight in February 2025. This move from Paul gets him back on the Saudi gravy train, making his Christmas fight a worthy business maneuver no matter where the fight ends up being broadcast.