Conor McGregor claims to be in talks with Logan Paul over finalising a huge lucrative boxing fight.
The UFC star took to social media on Tuesday to announce that he had reached an agreement for an exhibition bout against Paul that would take place in India.
McGregor added that he would return to MMA after that match, the proposed date of which he did not disclose, denying reports that he was set to make his long-awaited UFC return against reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.
“The rumors [sic] of a bout with topurio are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India,” McGregor wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The rumors of a bout with topurio are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 17, 2024
I have agreed.
I will then seek my return to the Octagon.
“I have agreed. I will then seek my return to the Octagon.”
Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion McGregor has not had a fight in any discipline since July 2021, when he suffered a horror leg break during the first round of his high-profile rematch against rival Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in Las Vegas - his second successive loss and third in four contests, having also been stopped by Poirier at UFC 257 following an explosive win over Donald Cerrone that followed his submission defeat by arch-rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.
‘The Notorious’ still has two fights remaining on his current UFC contract and was due to fight Michael Chandler in his comeback bout at UFC 303 in June, only for the welterweight clash to be cancelled after McGregor suffered a broken toe in training.
Confusion over McGregor’s future in the octagon has since continued, though the Irishman has remained adamant that he wants to fight twice in 2025.
A match against Paul would be only his third as a boxer, having been stopped late by Floyd Mayweather Jr in their money-spinning crossover bout in Las Vegas in the summer of 2017.
McGregor later took part in a surprise exhibition fight against amateur boxer Michael McGrane in Dublin in 2019, which was scored a draw.
Paul is a highly successful YouTuber, influencer, podcaster, actor and entrepreneur who has also had a successful career as a wrestler in the WWE since first appearing in the sport in 2021.
The older brother of YouTuber-turned-pugilist Jake Paul, who recently beat Mike Tyson in his latest lucrative fight on Netflix, Logan has also been a boxer in the past, drawing and then losing to fellow YouTuber KSI as well as beating MMA fighter Dillon Danis by disqualification in Manchester in October 2023.
Paul has also previously fought Mayweather in a non-scored bout in Miami in 2021 that went the full eight rounds. McGregor has sparred verbally with both Paul brothers in the past, particularly Jake with whom he has a long-running feud.
