Who Should Be Cast on Fight Games? The Fighters MVP Should Be Looking For

Jake Paul, Logan Paul, Most Valuable Promotions, Wheelhouse, Hulu and ESPN have created something that could become much bigger than another combat-sports reality show. The newly announced fight competition will place fighters on opposing teams coached by Jake and Logan Paul, have them live and train together, allow contestants to influence their own matchups, and eliminate competitors through actual fights rather than voting. Casting is already open, with production scheduled for 2027. That creates an interesting question: Who should they cast? Not which fighter has the most Instagram followers. Not simply who has the prettiest professional record. Who could actually make this format work? Because if Fight Games is going to become what it has the potential to become, casting needs to find more than good fighters. It needs to find future stars. Fight Games Has an Opportunity Other Combat Shows Don't Most fight promotions begin with matchmaking. Fight Games can begin with character discovery. There are thousands of talented fighters competing in MMA, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai and other martial arts who most casual sports fans have never heard of. Some aren't fighting in the UFC. Some aren't fighting on major television cards. Some haven't even turned professional yet. That doesn't mean they aren't compelling. In fact, those fighters may be exactly where casting should look. MVP has built its brand around a fighter-first approach, growing athletes and bringing new audiences into combat sports through storytelling and promotion. MVP describes its mission as identifying talent, growing fighters and maximizing opportunities around them. Fight Games gives them an enormous new laboratory for doing exactly that. 1. Find Fighters Who Are Good Enough — But Haven't Been Discovered Yet The obvious requirement is legitimate fighting ability. Nobody wants a combat competition where viewers immediately know half the contestants shouldn't be there. But casting exclusively from established stars would miss part of the opportunity. Some of the most interesting contestants could be fighters competing on: - Regional MMA cards - Regional boxing events - Bare-knuckle promotions - Kickboxing shows - Amateur circuits - Wrestling competitions - Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu events - Muay Thai cards These are athletes who may already possess world-class attributes without having world-class visibility. Fight Games could become the opportunity that introduces them to everybody else. 2. Find Fighters With Something to Prove The perfect contestant shouldn't just want exposure. They should have a reason they need this opportunity. Maybe they were overlooked by a major promotion. Maybe injuries slowed their career. Maybe they started fighting later than everyone else. Maybe they have been grinding on regional cards for years without getting the call. Maybe they have been told repeatedly that they aren't marketable. Maybe they're undefeated and nobody cares yet. Maybe they've lost fights and believe everyone has already written them off. Those stories matter. Because audiences don't become emotionally invested in statistics. They become invested in people. 3. Find Fighters With Personality MVP and the Paul brothers have already made clear that this concept isn't only about competition. It's entertainment. The fighters will live together. They'll train together. They'll form relationships. They'll choose opponents. Alliances and rivalries are intentionally part of the competition's strategy. That means casting needs people who react differently when pressure appears. The calm killer. The trash talker. The underdog. The strategist. The teammate everybody loves. The fighter everybody wants to challenge. The person who refuses to quit. The wildcard nobody understands. You don't manufacture those characters. You find real fighters who already possess those qualities. 4. Find Fighters Who Understand Strategy The most fascinating part of Fight Games may not happen during the fights. It may happen while contestants are deciding who fights whom. That's completely different from a traditional promotion where the matchmaker determines your opponent. A contestant could potentially influence their own path through the competition. Do you challenge the weakest fighter? Do you remove the biggest threat? Do you protect someone in your alliance? Do you accept a matchup nobody else wants? Do you expose someone's weakness? Do you hide your own? That's why Fight IQ should matter during casting. A fighter who understands people and competition could become dangerous before the opening bell ever rings. 5. Find Fighters From Different Combat Sports One of the best opportunities available to Fight Games is stylistic variety. Current reporting indicates that fighters can come from MMA, boxing and traditional martial arts backgrounds. Lean into that. Put the boxer beside the wrestler. Put the karate fighter beside the Muay Thai fighter. Bring in the grappler who thinks nobody can stop their takedown. Bring in the striker who thinks nobody will survive long enough to try. Different backgrounds create natural debates. Which style actually works? Combat-sports fans have argued about that question forever. Fight Games can put versions of those arguments into the same environment. 6. Don't Forget the Women One male fighter and one female fighter are expected to ultimately remain. That shouldn't make the women's side of the competition secondary. In fact, MVP may be uniquely positioned to make sure it isn't. MVP has invested heavily in women's combat sports and describes increasing opportunity and visibility for female fighters as part of its development over its first five years. Its current MVPW platform continues putting women's championship boxing on major stages, including ESPN. Fight Games can continue that philosophy. Don't cast women simply to fill half a roster. Find female competitors who can leave the show as legitimate combat-sports stars. 7. Look Beyond Followers Social media matters. Especially in modern combat sports. But casting shouldn't confuse an existing audience with future star potential. Someone with 500,000 followers may be valuable. Someone with 5,000 followers and an unforgettable personality may become more valuable. The question isn't only: How many people already know them? Ask: How many people will care about them after spending an episode with them? That's a very different metric. 8. Look for Fighters Who Are Coachable Jake and Logan aren't simply hosting the competition. They're coaching rival teams. That means the contestant-coach relationship could become one of the show's most important dynamics. Some fighters will absorb information. Some will question everything. Some may flourish under Jake. Others may respond better to Logan. Some may clash with both of them. That's television—but it's also competition. Being talented enough to fight isn't necessarily the same thing as being capable of improving while living under pressure. 9. Find Fighters Who Can Handle Life Outside the Gym This is something Fight Plan Pro pays particular attention to. Everyone sees fight night. They don't always see the other hours. The food. The water. The sleep. The recovery. The missed workouts. The bad decisions. The mindset swings. The emotional pressure. The temptation to stop doing the small things correctly. A fighter living and training in a competitive environment isn't just being evaluated during practice. Their habits start becoming visible. That could make Fight Games especially revealing. There are fighters who look incredible during a two-hour training session but struggle with structure during the remaining 22 hours. And there are fighters whose greatest advantage is that they consistently do what they're supposed to do when nobody is watching. Those athletes deserve attention. 10. Find Fighters With Stories That Continue After the Show This may be the most important casting criterion. Imagine two fighters. One produces an entertaining six weeks of television. The other produces an entertaining six weeks and leaves with an audience that wants to follow their next five years. Who is more valuable? Fight Games shouldn't only create contestants. It should create combat-sports personalities people want to continue watching. A fighter doesn't necessarily need to win the entire competition to become one of its biggest success stories. Sometimes losing the right fight after showing the world exactly who you are can create more opportunity than quietly winning several. Fight Plan Pro Wants to Help Find Them Fight Plan Pro works with fighters from across combat sports. And one of the biggest lessons we've learned is simple: Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn't. Some fighters are already competing in front of thousands. Others are fighting in regional buildings where the majority of the sports world will never see what they did. Some have incredible stories that have never been properly told. Some haven't learned how to tell their own story yet. Those are exactly the athletes Fight Plan Pro wants to begin highlighting as Fight Games casting develops. Not because every fighter we feature belongs on the show. And not because Fight Plan Pro decides who gets selected. We don't. But we can help shine a light on fighters who deserve to be considered. The Fight Plan Games Watchlist As the casting process develops, Fight Plan Pro intends to build a continuing Fight Games Watchlist featuring fighters we believe are worth watching. Potential profiles can examine: - Fighting record - Weight class - Combat background - Current promotion - Fighting style - Personality - Personal story - Career adversity - Fight footage - Social presence - Why they could fit the format - What makes them different - Whether they've applied for Fight Games The objective isn't to tell MVP who they have to cast. It's to make it easier to discover fighters who otherwise might never cross their radar. Because the next breakout fighter may already be competing somewhere this weekend. Most people just don't know their name yet. Think You Belong on Fight Games? Casting is currently open for the new Paul brothers fight competition series. The show is produced by Wheelhouse and Most Valuable Promotions for Hulu and ESPN, with production scheduled for 2027. If you're a fighter who believes your ability, personality and story belong in this competition: "Apply for Fight Games" (https://fightgamecasting.com/) Then make sure you're preparing for the opportunity—not simply hoping you get it. Prepare With Fight Plan Pro Fight Plan Pro was built for the hours fighters spend outside the gym. Track and improve the areas that can determine whether you're actually ready when your opportunity appears: Fight preparation. Nutrition. Hydration. Recovery. Mindset. Consistency. Accountability. Habits. Your next opportunity might be Fight Games. It might be a title fight. It might be a call from a promotion you've been chasing for years. You don't control when the opportunity comes. You do control whether you're ready for it. "Join Fight Plan Pro" (https://fightplanpro.com/invite/oibLteY7Egou) Are You a Fighter Fight Games Should Know About? Fight Plan Pro will be highlighting fighters as casting develops. If you've applied—or believe you have the fighting ability, story and personality to belong on the show—make sure your Fight Plan Pro profile represents who you are. Because Fight Plan Pro will be watching. And we want the right people watching you too.