Jake Paul didn’t leave the ring with the result he wanted in Miami this past Friday. But in the eyes of Paul's promotional partner, MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, the loss to Anthony Joshua still revealed exactly what kind of fighter the former YouTuber has become and where his boxing future is headed.

Speaking on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" in the aftermath of Paul’s sixth-round knockout loss, Bidarian pushed back against the idea that the bout represented anything close to a “moral victory.” However, he still framed Paul's performance as an important data point in the 29-year-old's development against elite boxing opposition.

"I don't think it was a moral victory because he expected to win," Bidarian said. "I do think he showed who he is as a fighter. I think he deployed the strategy that he was very clear about going into — that he was going to look to make AJ miss, and AJ missed a number of times. Ultimately, I think the weight of AJ caught up to Jake Paul."

Bidarian believes Paul executed his plan early, using movement and distance to frustrate the former two-time unified heavyweight champion.

Joshua’s size, however, became increasingly difficult to manage once the bout drifted into close quarters.

"You look at the first three rounds, AJ wasn't really able to touch him, but when AJ was in a clinch with him a couple of times, [Joshua] pushed down on the back of his neck, pushed down on the back of his head, got him to the ground," Bidarian said. "There was a few times where Jake looked like he was going for a takedown. Again, that was Jake trying to engage in the clinch, and AJ smartly moved back."

The loss, and the broken jaw Paul suffered in the process, immediately raised questions about what comes next. Obviously, Paul will first need to heal before setting up his boxing return.

Bidarian made it clear that, physically and mentally, Paul is already focused on a comeback rather than calling it quits. He added that he "very much so" expects Paul to fight again in 2026.

"He's doing great," Bidarian said. "Obviously there are periods of time during the day where there's a lot of pain, where there is no pain, actually. Recovery process is five to six weeks, and he's focused on coming back as a boxer in 2026. This is a sport that he loves. This is a sport that saved him from the path that he was on in the past."

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Bidarian also dismissed any notion that the injury or the loss should redefine Paul’s career arc. Drawing from his own background as an executive with the UFC, he framed the setback as just another chapter.

"I don't view a broken jaw as career-ending or defining," Bidarian said. "There's plenty of examples from my past in MMA. [Rafael] dos Anjos broke his jaw, had plates put in, came back and became champion after that. I think Jake, very much so, showed the kind of chin he has, showed the kind of movement he has in the ring, and the heart that he has. So I'm looking forward to what defines him going forward. Not what we've done in the past five years.

"In terms of who we fight next, we haven't had that conversation. I have certain ideas. Tommy Fury is not it — I don't think he's reliable to do that. But it's really up to Jake — I need to hear from him, how he sees it going, and he does want to win a belt. And so I think there's ways of doing that in the right way, to allow him to get back to that top of the mountain, in terms of getting a belt, and also continue to do big spectacular events."

For Paul, the Joshua fight marked the largest test yet of how far his boxing experiment can realistically go. For Bidarian, it also served as confirmation that the journey isn’t over.