Jake Paul has admitted that Conor McGregor's UFC comeback fight is "massive" despite his ongoing rivalry with the Irishman.
Former two-weight UFC champion McGregor, 34, looks for his first win in over three years when he faces Michael Chandler later this year. The rivals will first coach against each other on series 31 of the UFC's reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, and will meet in the cage after the conclusion of the season in August.
McGregor suffered consecutive defeats by Dustin Poirier in his last two fights and has not had his hand raised in the Octagon since knocking out Donald Cerrone in January 2020. Chandler has also gone 1-3 in his last four fights but YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul still thinks the fight between the UFC rivals is a huge deal.
"Boxing fans should learn from MMA fans to support fighters," Paul tweeted. "McGregor is 1-3 in his last four fights. Choked out, knocked out. His opponent is 1-3 in his last four fights, knocked out and choked out. But it’s a massive fight and the fans don’t care one bit."
Chandler has been calling for a fight against McGregor since making his UFC debut on the undercard of the Irishman's defeat to Poirier in their rematch. The former Bellator champion has failed to put together a string of wins in the promotion, but has exclusively fought top-ranked opponents, with his losses coming to Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier.
Paul has been challenging UFC stars such as McGregor and Jorge Masvidal to a fight since sidelining his internet fame for a career in the ring. 'Notorious' has seemingly ruled out any chance of fighting Paul in the future as he insisted he doesn't care about the new wave of crossover boxing.
Who wins - Conor McGregor or Michael Chandler? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below.
McGregor recently mocked Paul for signing a deal with the Professional Fighters League, labelling the American a "wally" over the terms of his deal with MMA promotion. "Numbnuts gave away fifty per cent of his future purse if he does an MMA fight. Wow what an idiot. Joint partnership what? For what you wally. Wally," McGregor wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
Paul is back in action on February 26th as he faces Love Island star Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia, marking the third time the fight has been booked. Fury withdrew from the fight first time around due to a broken rib and chest infection, with the Brit being unable to travel to the US for their rescheduled clash last August due to visa issues.
