Jake Paul claims to have 'early signs of CTE,' then recants statement: 'Should not have misspoken'

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YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul issued a statement on social media Friday recanting his statement from a day earlier where he claimed to have "early signs" of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Paul said in a tweet that he had "misspoken" when he talked about his medical history on Thursday in a media event leading up to Saturday’s Triller Fight Club bout against former MMA fighter Ben Askren.

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"I wanna retract my comments made about CTE as it relates to me and my medical history," the tweet read. "It’s a very serious condition that I should not have misspoken about."  

Paul first made the controversial comments in a media event on Thursday where he said he was putting his "mental health on the line." 

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"It’s a dangerous sport," Paul said, via MMAFighting.com. "That’s why when people question my dedication to it – I’m showing up every single day. I’m putting my mental health on the line, my brain is on the line. I’ve gone and gotten brain scans and have early signs of CTE but I love this sport and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else." 

Despite the claims that he’s had scans done to show early signs of the degenerative disease, the Mayo Clinic says there is no way to diagnose a living patient with CTE. 

"A diagnosis requires evidence of degeneration of brain tissue and deposits of tau and other proteins in the brain that can be seen only upon inspection after death (autopsy)," the website reads. 

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Medical professionals can only suspect CTE in patients who are subject to repeated incidents of head trauma. 

Askren responded to Paul’s statement on Twitter saying: "So did you just totally fabricate it or did you misunderstand what the doctor said?"

The headline, pay-per-view event will take place on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.