Jake Paul 's feud with Conor McGregor could end up taking his attention from Hasim Rahman Jr, according to former UFC star Brendan Schaub.
YouTube star Paul will take a massive step up in boxing skill and size when he faces 12-1 heavyweight Rahman Jr next month at Madison Square Garden in his sixth professional fight. But in recent days, he has focused a large portion of his media output on the injured UFC legend McGregor, instead of his next opponent.
And Schaub, who has experience of fighting some major names in the MMA world, has warned Paul against getting distracted by the allure of a McGregor fight. The Irishman recently mocked Paul publicly; one of the first times he has taken the bait from the social media star.
Schaub expressed his concern after watching the heated press conference between Paul and Rahman Jr, where the boxer got the better of certain verbal exchanges despite being less accustomed to these major events. "I thought he [Paul] was going to light him [Rahman Jr] up," Schaub said during an episode of his show, The Fighter and the Kid.
"I thought he'd destroy him, but he didn't exactly do that. I think he's distracted because if you've seen what's going on with him and Conor, he's trying to get a fight with Conor.
"Conor tweeted out something like he doesn't take him serious, like 'you're a toy, dude, what are you talking about?' The problem is that Conor isn't from the cut of cloth like these young guys like Jake or Logan Paul."
McGregor joked that Paul had only sold 70,000 pay-per-views in his two fights during a two-tweet exchange with the YouTuber. But Paul hit back, declaring that his number over his last four PPV events is closer to three million, having made his debut on subscription service DAZN.
"They're playing a different game," Schaub explained of the back-and-forth between Paul and the likes of McGregor. "I don't care who you are, not even another YouTuber can hang with him.
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"When it comes to Conor, Dana [White, UFC president], nobody's going to beat Jake at what Jake does, as far as marketing and creating a narrative on YouTube and social media. He's the best there is, the best, that's how he got his fame and money.
"So when you step into that pool, you'd better be ready to go - these kids, they have no understanding that anything is off limits. I hate it, too. Jake is doing this to get under his skin and create some hype. Conor sends a tweet and I'm telling you, you can't give these young kids a f***ing inch, these content creators."
Paul will have to get his focus back on August 6 if he is to keep fans interested for a future bout with McGregor. Having lost out on yet another fight with Tommy Fury, it's on the YouTube star to carry the promotion against the much less marketing-savvy Rahman Jr.
However, he attracted massive attention at his New York press conference earlier this week and appears to have a game opponent with regards to talking and building the fight. Flanked by his father, the former world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, the boxer held his own verbally and will be favoured to win given his extensive amateur and professional record.
