To the surprise of none, YouTube boxer Jake Paul recently found himself in hot water with the combat sports community for some remarks about CTE. Amidst pushback from several people, he has walked back those comments.
Ahead of his boing match with Ben Askren, the younger Paul brother is already not looked upon favorably by the combat sports community. That opinion was only soured more, when he made comments about having “early signs of CTE.”
Obviously this was met with backlash, given the seriousness of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) among fight veterans. Not to mention the fact that this is not even something that can be tested for or officially diagnosed until after death, so he could not truly know if that was the case.
“I’m putting my mental health on the line, my brain is on the line. Like you said, I’ve gone and gotten brain scans and (I) have early signs of CTE. But, I love this sport and wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” Paul said.
.@JakePaul claims he has "early signs of CTE" heading into his boxing match against Ben Askren at #TrillerFightClub.
Watch full video: https://t.co/DGBJmd0UUN pic.twitter.com/yyFjcUqWnD
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) April 15, 2021
Anthony Smith, Others Respond To CTE Comments
These remarks from Jake Paul have not been met kindly by anybody who know anything about CTE. Take for example, UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith who went off on the YouTuber on Twitter.
“My take:
1. He’s exactly as stupid and careless as we all thought.
2. Lying about this to be cool or whatever shows his absolute disrespect for the real fighters and their families that have and will suffer from the very real, devastating effects of CTE. He’s disgusting.”
On top of that, Orthopedic Sports Surgeon and popular YouTube doctor David Abbasi also took aim at these remarks. He also does a great job of explaining from a scientific standpoint how CTE is diagnosed, and why it cannot be determined by current brain scans.
Jake Paul claims 🧠CTE diagnosis at Triller press conference for fight vs @Benaskren?!
I explain why it CAN’T BE TRUE… Because he’s NOT DEAD?!
👇https://t.co/AfNH9HFG2k😷RT to Share!👍🏼#jakepaul #cte #jakepaulcte #benaskren #PaulAskren #Triller #mmatwitter pic.twitter.com/UK3pQfrO0N
— David Abbasi, MD | Orthopedic Surgeon (@DrDavidAbbasi) April 15, 2021
Jake Paul Apologizes For Saying He Has CTE
It seems that this pushback has gotten to Jake Paul, and has forced him to respond. He posted to Twitter the day after making these comments to take back what he had said, explaining that he apparently misunderstood the information he was given.
“I wanna retract my comments made about CTE as it relates to me and my medical history. It’s a very serious condition that I should not have misspoken about.”
I wanna retract my comments made about CTE as it relates to me and my medical history.
It’s a very serious condition that I should not have misspoken about.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) April 16, 2021
Regardless of the reasoning, it is good to see Jake Paul take responsibility for being wrong on this matter. This is a very serious issue and should not be taken lightly by him or anybody else.
