Dan Hardy believes Jake Paul can bridge the long-standing divide between MMA and boxing as the PFL prepares to merge with MVP.Paul, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, will return to the boxing ring on Christmas Eve in Dubai, a year after suffering a double broken jaw against Anthony Joshua.Paul was knocked out by Joshua in the sixth round of their fight in December 2025AFPAnnouncing the event on Thursday, MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian said it will be ‘one of the most special nights of the year’ and happens ‘when families everywhere are together and watching.’Bidarian has previously discussed capitalising on the festive period for Paul’s fights and beyond.His comments come as streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon continue their Christmas traditions, with the latter showing an NFL game on Christmas Eve for the first time this year.However, the timing of Paul’s next fight seems to be about more than simply capturing festive-season traffic, as it falls directly ahead of MVP’s full integration with the PFL on January 1, 2027.Paul can provide best of both worlds, says HardyIn the eyes of former UFC title challenger and current PFL commentator Hardy, it serves as a chance for Paul, consistently keen on wild, high-risk showdowns, and the newly formed combat sports promotion to reach wider demographics than ever before.Fighting styles and cultural identity have notoriously kept boxing and MMA fans singing off different hymn sheets since the latter’s boom and Dana White‘s UFC grew into a billion-dollar company.“I think if we can take the occasional crazy — whatever Jake Paul is doing that creates a lot of noise and attention — and then have a good roster of MMA fighters and boxers underneath that who are thriving in a solid fighter-first ecosystem, it’s the best of both worlds,” Hardy told talkSPORT.com.“Then, we’re going to hit lots of different demographics. Whereas right now we’re just kind of hitting the hardcore MMA fans with the PFL and we need to broaden that.”From next year, PFL branding will be scrapped, and the new promotion will operate as MVP MMA. Explaining Paul’s unique fighter-owner role in August, PFL CEO John Martin, who has since stepped down, highlighted to talkSPORT.com that his former promotion struggled slightly with ‘shining a spotlight on the fighters.’Hardy says Paul can be the one to bring together a united combat sports audience through his fights and role at MVPGettyWith such a massive and talented roster, Martin said that was one of the driving factors behind the decision to merge both companies into one combat sports giant.“I realised the benefits of scale and being big, and I wanted to try to jumpstart and accelerate the PFL’s ability to do that and get there,” he said.Hardy: Paul is making things excitingFor Hardy, the move guided by Paul and Bidarian brings a fresh and adventurous perspective.“He’s young, a good athlete, and has the time and money to invest in himself,” Hardy said of Paul.“I think there are lots of really interesting fights out there, and the reality is, if he got in there with Anthony Joshua, he would get in there with [Francis] Ngannou — he’s not joking about that.“And if he’s gonna get in there with Francis Ngannou, he’s going to fight anybody, right?Paul came together with Bidarian, left, and Martin, right, and merged to accelerate a vision to ‘disrupt a broken model’ following previous criticisms of the UFC and White’s monopolyPFL“The Darren Tills, the Michael ‘Venom’ Pages, the Mike Perrys of the world — there’s lots and lots of really interesting fights in MMA and boxing, whatever the rule sets you want to fight under.“The other exciting thing about MVP, and the fact that you’ve got Jake and Nakisa, as well as the people that have been guiding the PFL, is it brings a fresh and adventurous perspective, people that take risks.“There’s a very, very fine line between ambitious and crazy, and judge how you will getting into the ring with Anthony Joshua, but I like the fact that he’s pushing himself and he’s calling people out, and he’s making things exciting.”Who is Paul fighting in Dubai?The crossover scene is at the forefront of options for Paul’s Dubai appearance, with ‘The Problem Child’ currently negotiating with four separate fighters.After all, it has already been revealed that those signed to MVP from next year will have the chance to compete in MMA and boxing.Former UFC welterweight title challenger Till is one of the frontrunners, while Chris Eubank Jr has been linked.View Tweet: https://t.co/a4jWmDpbAzA rematch with Tommy Fury, who beat Paul in 2023, could be on the cards in the future, but the Briton will first face alternative opposition at the end of 2026.Furthermore, a clash with Ngannou, who fought in the first MVP MMA event in May, is inevitably on the cards.But Paul will likely have two or three fights first before accepting the task of taking on the former UFC heavyweight champion.It all points to Hardy’s idea of Paul being the one to change how combat sports reaches its audience ahead of the PFL-MVP merger.While Hardy hopes to continue analysis and commentary for MVP MMA next year, he says his role within the company from next year is ‘to be seen.’But it’s clear there is an overriding sense of buzz and excitement for all parties that MVP can be beneficial to the sport Hardy has been embroiled in for well over 20 years.talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankingstalkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out.