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Conor McGregor has said he is “rooting for” Mike Perry when the former UFC star boxes Jake Paul this weekend, while labelling the latter a “little dweeb”.
YouTuber Paul has beaten several ex-UFC fighters while compiling a 9-1 record as a professional boxer, having knocked out Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren, and having outpointed Nate Diaz and Anderson Silva.
On Saturday (20 July), the 27-year-old was due to box heavyweight legend Mike Tyson, but the 58-year-old suffered a health scare on a flight in May, causing the fight to be delayed until November. In the meantime, Paul will box Perry, 32.
Since leaving the UFC in 2021, Perry has excelled in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), in which McGregor recently bought a stake.
And speaking at a BKFC press conference on Thursday (18 July), McGregor said: “[You can] make a new name for yourself [here]. Look at what has happened to Michael Perry, one of our big stars here – the ‘King of Violence’, he titles himself.
“He’s had such a rise in the sport, now he’s up against a little dweeb of a thing in a fight this weekend, [and] we’re all rooting for him.”
Paul and Perry each hold a win over former opponents of McGregor. Perry stopped Eddie Alvarez in BKFC in December, six years after McGregor knocked out the American to become the first dual-weight champion in UFC history.
That 2017 result followed McGregor’s two fights with Diaz, with whom the Irishman traded wins that year. Last August, Paul outpointed Diaz in a boxing match after dropping the UFC veteran in round five.
McGregor last fought in July 2021, suffering a broken leg in a second straight loss to Dustin Poirier. The 36-year-old was due to return to the Octagon last month, but a broken toe led to the cancellation of his fight with Michael Chandler. No new date has been announced for that contest.
Jake Paul vs Mike Perry will air live on DAZN pay-per-view. A subscription to the streaming service is available here.
