Paulie Malignaggi has said Conor McGregor would get “KO”ed by Jake Paul, backing the YouTube star’s recent prediction.
Former dual-weight UFC champion McGregor took a break from mixed martial arts in 2017 to box Floyd Mayweather, and the Irishman brought ex-world-champion boxer Malignaggi into his camp for sparring sessions. At the time, McGregor released footage of him knocking down the American in those training rounds, though Malignaggi blamed the moments on slips and McGregor using illegal punches.
The pair reignited their rivalry on Twitter at the weekend, when Malignaggi agreed that Paul, who is 5-0 as a professional boxer, would knock out McGregor.
McGregor suffered a broken leg in his last fight, in July 2021, and is approaching a return to sparring. The Irishman last week posted footage of himself hitting pads, to which Paul responded: “This is embarrassing @thenotoriousmma. Your chin wide open with no head movement for the [‘Problem Child’] right hand of god. I would KO Conor in boxing or MMA.”
Malignaggi waded in, writing: “I agree with Jake. Conor is light work.
“He ain’t s***. I’m taking Jake by KO.”
McGregor hit back, posting a picture of Malignaggi on the canvas from his time as the Irishman’s sparring partner.
“I left you like a little seesaw,” the former UFC champion wrote, before Malignaggi responded by posting a video of McGregor being submitted by Nate Diaz.
Malignaggi last boxed professionally in 2017. In 2019, he fought McGregor’s old teammate Artem Lobov in a bareknuckle boxing match, losing to the Russian on points.
