CLEVELAND – Jake Paul is completely confident that he will knock out another mixed martial artist Sunday night.

If he stops Tyron Woodley inside the distance, it’d mark his second straight technical-knockout victory over an aged former UFC fighter. The polarizing Paul is open to facing more MMA fighters – namely Jorge Masvidal or Kamaru Usman – assuming he gets past the 39-year-old Woodley in their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (8 p.m. EDT; $59.99).

As convinced as Paul is that he would beat any MMA fighter in a boxing match, the 24-year-old Paul conceded that he would lose if he attempted to participate in their sport.

“Nothing against MMA fighters,” Paul told Showtime’s Brian Campbell and Luke Thomas following an open workout Wednesday at Cleveland Public Square. “I respect MMA fighters. You know, if I go into an MMA fight, they’re gonna tie me up and choke me out. AJ Agazarm, we did an MMA little mess around, and he choked me out. OK, cool, you got me, bro. But in sparring boxing, that’s my territory. You’re coming in where I’m going and it’s different.”

Paul always senses differences in techniques when he spars or fights with boxers and mixed martial artists. That is among the reasons that the Westlake, Ohio, native is so certain that he’ll knock out Woodley in what has been billed as by far the most difficult of Paul’s four professional fights.

“Boxers are a little bit more efficient with striking,” Paul explained. “They add up the numbers, they have the head movement, and so it’s a different thing. And I’ve taken on a lot of MMA fighters in sparring. But you know, it’s just the name of the game. It’s like a fish out of water. It’s comparing apples to oranges.”

Handicappers have established Paul as an approximate 2-1 favorite to beat Woodley in their eight-round cruiserweight contest. Woodley competed mostly at the MMA welterweight limit of 170 pounds during his successful UFC run, but 190 pounds is the contracted catch weight for Woodley’s professional boxing debut.

Regardless, Woodley cannot fare any worse than his friend, Ben Askren, who was knocked out in the first round by Paul on April 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Paul sent Askren to the canvas with a thudding right hand just 1:40 into a scheduled eight-rounder and stopped Askren, who was 36 and retired from UFC when he opposed Paul.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.