Jake Paul is still eager to get in the ring with UFC megastar Conor McGregor.
The desire, however, is anything but mutual.
Paul appeared on The MMA Hour on Monday to hawk his latest boxing spectacle, which goes down August 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. The appearance again led Paul to call for a fight with McGregor, who he vastly outsizes and outweighs.
“At some point it’s gotta happen,” Paul told Ariel Helwani on the show. “He’s a businessman, I’m a businessman, and that’s $75 to $100 million dollars for both of us.”
McGregor was quick to respond on social media, suggesting Paul’s boxing Pay-Per-Views had done “70k buys.” He then went on to suggest the Youtuber was failure.
“You are a flop, kid. A nobody,” McGregor wrote in a second post.
You are a flop, kid. A nobody.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 11, 2022
Paul, a Youtube content creator turned celebrity boxer, has made a career out of fighting undersized opponents, most of them past their prime. From fellow social media stars to past-their-prime MMA champs, Paul has relied on youth, athleticism, and hand-picking opponents to keep winning fights, including bouts against Bellator/ONE champ Ben Askren, and ex-UFC champ Tyron Woodley (twice).
Most recently, Paul attempted to at least box a boxer, Tommy Fury, only for Fury’s alleged family ties to Irish mobster Daniel Kinahan to put the kibosh on things. It’s the second time Fury has dropped out of a fight with Paul; in his place will be Hasim Rahman Jr.
McGregor, a former UFC double champ at featherweight and lightweight, and the first to hold two belts simultaneously in the promotion, he been rehabbing the leg he snapped in his fight with Dustin Poirier last year. No return date has been set, but lucrative fights with Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier remain options.
Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, stripped of the title for missing weight at UFC 274, has also called for a fight with Conor McGregor. Looks like Paul will have to take a number, as he’s well back in line.
