Jake Paul went viral for wearing a disguise to attend Noche UFC at The Sphere on Saturday, September 14. Paul believed he was banned from all UFC events, but Dana White said the disguise wasn’t necessary.

White addressed the topic to the media at The Apex in Las Vegas following episode 5 of Season 8 of the Contender Series.

“Oscar De La Hoya was there,” White said, laughing. “OK. Let’s put it that way. Nobody is banned from the UFC. Listen, that kid knows how to market and do his thing, and all that good s###. Jake Paul is welcomed to come to UFC. He just can’t bring that….you know.”

Here is a look at that part of White’s post-event presser.

White left the last piece of his statement unfinished, but there are some assumptions he was referring to Paul’s business partner, Nakisa Bidarian.

The latter is the UFC’s former chief financial officer. Paul has been critical of the UFC and their reluctance to allow their fighters to participate in crossover fights like the ones he’s competed in to rise to fame in boxing.

Paul has fought former UFC fighters like Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren, and Anderson Silva and called out current heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. In a recent interview with former UFC heavyweight champion and current Professional Fighters League star Francis Ngannou, Paul claimed to know why Conor McGregor hasn’t been allowed to fight in 2024.

According to Paul, McGregor, who has two fights remaining on his contract, won’t be allowed to fight in the UFC until the promotion has secured its next TV/streaming rights deal. Paul’s sensible logic suggests the UFC deal is far more valuable with two McGregor-led pay-per-view events than one.

The Paul-White situation is interesting, with ties on multiple levels. In addition to the linkage associated with Bidarian, the UFC is also in a partnership with Jake’s brother, Logan Paul. The latter’s Prime energy drink is a UFC sponsor, and Logan is currently a WWE Superstar.

That promotion is a part of TKO Holdings and is under the same umbrella as the UFC. In this crazy world of combat sports, it seems inevitable that, at some point, Jake and White will wind up working together in some capacity. There’s too much money to be earned on both sides. Jake is getting set for his next crossover boxing match, a controversial clash with 59-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson.

The fight, scheduled for November 15 in Arlington, Texas, will be the first live sporting event streamed on Netflix. The fight was initially scheduled for July, but a health scare forced Tyson out, and the event was rescheduled for November.

The UFC is off this weekend but will return on Tuesday, October 24, with the ninth episode of the Dana White Contender Series, and it will be back in full form on September 28 for UFC Fight Night Paris, headlined by Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint-Denis.