Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) made sure to clarify that the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight was not compromised in any way, and one of the ring girls from that night is providing evidence.
MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian stated in a recent interview with Fox News Digital that the fight was “100% real from beginning to end.”
The speculation existed before the fight, but a specific incident fueled further discussions about potential staging.
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Mike Tyson slaps Jake Paul during their weigh-in, Nov. 14, 2024, in Irving, Texas. Ring girl Sydney Thomas is shown at left. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Tyson slapped Paul at the weigh-in, claiming Paul had stepped on his toe. The ensuing chaos on stage, with people separating Tyson from Paul, sparked further speculation.
Fans pointed to the composed ring girls as evidence of a setup, but Sydney Thomas, who has gained significant social media following since, explains they were instructed not to react.
“I was shocked by what happened. I wasn’t prepared for it at all. … But as event models, our role is to stand and smile without reacting. We are meant to blend into the background of photos without showing strong reactions,” Thomas revealed in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Thomas had to maintain her composure despite the shocking incident.
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul are separated during their weigh-in, Nov. 14, 2024, in Irving, Texas. Ring girl Sydney Thomas is shown at left. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PAUL-TYSON RING GIRL SYDNEY THOMAS REFLECTS ON NEWFOUND FAME, CAREER GOALS
“I’m like, ‘Oh! He just slapped him!’ But I have to hold this smile the whole time. In my head, I’m like, ‘No way. But keep smiling! They’re taking so many pictures, this moment’s going to go so viral. I got to be looking good back here!’ That was my thought process.
“A lot of people, too, had drawn a line [and] said, ‘This has to be staged. There’s no way that’s real. The models in the back didn’t even react.’ They were saying it was on us for the reason why it was looking so fake, because we didn’t react. That’s our entire job. We’re paid to stand there and smile. We’re professional at it. We’re not going to have these reactions. It was shocking, but that’s our job.”
MVP dismissed any claims that the fight was fixed.
“If you were to rig such competition, it is a federal crime. And myself, Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, executives from Netflix would all be going to jail. They would be risking their entire company, and we would be risking our entire lives to do that,” Bidarian explained to Fox News Digital. “It is preposterous that people even suggest that this was in any way anything other than a professional fight. … That was not the case in any Jake fight, let alone this one.”
Sydney Thomas poses in the ring during Paul-Tyson. (Raphaela Milagres)
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Thomas recently achieved 1 million followers on TikTok and has over 750,000 followers on other social media platforms.
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