Jake Paul believes Conor McGregor was "nowhere near" his legacy at the age of 25 during his UFC career.
The YouTube star has launched a career in boxing in which he is yet to be beaten after five professional fights. Paul has generated huge interest in the early stages of his time in the sport, which is partly down to his previous YouTube career which has seen him gather a subscriber base of around 15 million.
Paul has beaten some former UFC stars in the boxing ring including Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley twice. And the YouTube star has claimed he is well on his way to becoming the best prizefighter in the world. "You look at where Conor McGregor was at my age," Paul said during an appearance on the Flagrant podcast. "It's nowhere near where I am now. The potential is unlimited, to become the biggest and greatest prize fighter in the world."
McGregor had already become double champion in MMA promotion Cage Warriors by the age of 25 conquering both the featherweight and lightweight division.s He had also signed for MMA and had made a huge success on his debut defeating Marcus Brimage before outpointing Max Holloway later in 2013.
He then went on to defeat Diego Brandao and Dustin Poirier during the following year which saw him rise to become the leading contender for the 155lb crown. McGregor then went on to dispatch Jose Aldo in record time to become UFC champion before making a switch to 170lb where he lost to rival Nate Diaz.
He later avenged defeat to his rival before becoming the first UFC fighter in history to simultaneously hold two title belts after claiming the 155lb title with victory over Eddie Alvarez. Paul has seen a rise in his own profile but it seems hard to compare it to the meteoric achievements of McGregor during his early stages in the UFC.
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Paul has campaigned for a fight with the Irishman throughout the early stages of his career which have largely fallen on deaf ears. However recently McGregor has come out to trade verbal barbs with Paul on social media, recently accusing him of being a "loser".
The YouTube star was unhappy with the comments and issued a lengthy video calling for his rival to sign up for a $200 million fight. "Conor, Conor, Conor," he joked. "You're more active on Twitter than you are in the octagon - your priorities are mixed up. Put down the bottle, and get back to fighting. You haven't won a fight in five f***ing years [McGregor won two-and-a-half years ago], and the last time you did was against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone.
"He hasn't won a fight against anyone since fighting you. I'm a nobody, you say in this tweet, and I guess you're right. I'm just a kid from Ohio, I am a nobody, but your sixth fight had literally two people in the crowd, and I'm going to be fighting my sixth fight at Madison Square Garden."
