Conor McGregor has vowed to blow boxing legend Manny Pacquiao's "head off" in a bare-knuckle boxing fight.
McGregor is currently out of fighting action after breaking his leg in a UFC defeat to Dustin Poirier nearly two years ago, but is expected to return this year in a fight with Michael Chandler. Despite having a hiatus from the octagon, the Irishman has been making his presence known in fighting events around the world including during an appearance at BKFC 41 headlined by Mike Perry and Luke Rockhold.
The 34-year-old has previously fought in the squared circle against Floyd Mayweather having lost in 2017 despite generating huge revenue for the clash. And after hinting he could potentially make a future appearance in bare-knuckle fighting, McGregor produced a new call-out to a fellow legend in combat sports.
He tweeted and deleted a short rant aimed at Pacquiao, which read: "I'll blow his head off with a back hand in bare knuckle." McGregor's tweet after news broke that his management company Paradigm Sports had successfully sued the Filipino star for $5.1million after his previous signature with the organisation.
The pair had previously been linked with a fight worth up to £100m for both men combined in the Middle East, while Pacquiao remained in competitive action as welterweight champion. However the event appeared to be struck down by the coronavirus pandemic alongside McGregor's first defeat to Poirier in the octagon.
McGregor had claimed prior to the event that he would eventually step in the boxing ring with the former multi-weight world champion but talks collapsed with plans put on hold after his loss. Despite his recent record, the former UFC two-division champion remains a huge star and pay-per-view draw in combat sports.
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Just before announcing his retirement after losing to Yordenis Ugas, Pacquiao's legendary trainer Freddie Roach had suggested that a fight with McGregor was no longer on the radar despite the star having now returned for exhibition events. He said previously of a fight with the UFC star: "Manny does not have any interest in fighting an MMA fighter.
"He wants to fight the best fighters out there. If he can't be at that level at boxing, then he doesn't want to be boxing - he will retire and hopefully become president of his country. If there is another fight after this it's not going to be McGregor, it's going to be one of the best guys out there.
"I want to see good boxing and that's what you get from Manny Pacquiao. He's always fought the best out there. There's a couple of guys I worry about, because they're younger, they're stronger and have very difficult styles. There is a couple fights out there we could fight, but Manny would only return to fight [professionally] against the best guys out there."
