Paul Suggests ‘1 Fight UFC Deal’ To Take On McGregor In MMA

There’s no shortage of boxers willing to fight UFC stars in the boxing ring, but now Jake Paul says he’s willing to face Conor McGregor in the Octagon.

Jake Paul may be taking a break from fighting after a busy 2021 that saw him box Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley (twice), earning highlight reel knockouts on both men. But that doesn’t mean he’ll stop pumping up his profile on social media in the meantime.

This time around Paul went back to calling out Conor McGregor and UFC president Dana White, suggesting he’d be willing to step into the Octagon to face McGregor if the promotion allowed it. Of course, the offer came with a number of strings and backhanded attacks on the UFC’s pay scale, so we wouldn’t take it all that seriously.

“Dana — since you like me now, how about a 1-fight deal to fight Conor,” Paul wrote on Twitter. “If I win, you agree to my UFC fighter pay and healthcare proposal. If I lose, I donate my entire purse to all UFC fighters who make less than $50k a fight and never mention UFC again. Deal?”

This offer came hot on the heels of a video showing McGregor sparring again, some of the first such footage since the former two division UFC champ broke his leg badly during a third fight with Dustin Poirier in July of 2021.

If the clip was supposed to inspire confidence in a 2022 return, it didn’t exactly work. Another former champ-champ, Henry Cejudo, replied “Your hands are down and your distance is off. Stay away from them yes men!” And the tape seemed to embolden Jake Paul into declaring “I would KO Conor in boxing or MMA. Right hand of God.”

That elicited a quick video response from McGregor, who declared Paul a ‘jackass.’

A fight between McGregor and Paul makes more dollars than sense, which means it’s always a possibility in today’s strange world full of of viral combat sports moments. If it does happen (a big if), don’t expect it to happen any time soon. The UFC doesn’t expect Conor McGregor to return until Fall of 2022 at the earliest, and there’s a good chance he’ll fall right into a UFC lightweight title shot.

But with just two fights left on McGregor’s current UFC contract, though, who knows how things will look in 2023 and beyond?