Conor McGregor recently dropped a bombshell by revealing that he was in talks to face Logan Paul in an exhibition boxing bout in 2025, further delaying his much-anticipated return to mixed martial arts (MMA).
But not everyone seems to be thrilled when it comes to McGregor’s chances against Paul, including current top ESPN analyst, Stephen A. Smith, who said on his hit show First Take that McGregor simply won’t have much to offer his much bigger opponent if the fight goes down.
“I think Logan Paul is going to beat him,” Smith said (via MMA Junkie). “I don’t think that Conor McGregor is a boxer; he’s a striker. So, he’s sitting up there, and he ain’t even throwing his jab. He’s pitter-pattering. You ain’t clipping Logan Paul like that. You’ve got to do more than that,” he added.
“We don’t know yet (which size gloves they’re using), but it doesn’t matter. Unless it’s pillows like 16 or 18 ounces, it ain’t going to work. I just think that Logan Paul is bigger, he’s a much bigger man, he’s a more experienced boxer.
“Those big muscles are going to make you a bit slower,” added Smith regarding McGregor’s new bulky physique. “And you’ve got to remember that Conor had quickness, he could catch you quick and clip you,” Smith said. “That’s not going to be the case in the boxing ring.”
As far as his return to UFC, no one known if and when that will ever happen. But if he returned anytime soon, Smith says nothing but “ass kickings” await him.
“I don’t think he’s ready to be back in the UFC, I think he would get his ass kicked thoroughly. These fighters are elite, they take this very seriously, and their definition of being in shape and ready to fight isn’t bloating themselves up with muscles and looking good in the mirror. These brothers are ready to throw down,” he added.
“Michael Chandler has been calling him out forever. He desperately, desperately wants to get his hands on Conor McGregor because he knows it would be a big fight, obviously, and that’s something that he wants, and that hasn’t happened yet. We haven’t seen Conor McGregor win a fight. I mean, he beat Donald Cerrone, but Cerrone looked like a deer in headlights as I pointed out that night, that’s the only victory he’s had in seven years.”
McGregor is 0-1 in his boxing career after coming up short against Floyd Mayweather, losing to “Money” via tenth-round technical knockout (TKO) back in 2017. Since then, McGregor has only competed four times in MMA, going a paltry 1-3. His comeback has been halted for one reason or another, with the latest being an ugly sexually assault case, which forced many of his business partners to distance themselves from him.
As for Paul, he also came up short against Mayweather in an exhibition bout in 2021, and is 1-1 as a “professional,” defeating Dillon Danis via disqualification in Oct. 2023, which was preceded by a loss to KSI in 2019.
Nevertheless, the social media sensation-turned WWE Superstar would be much bigger than McGregor once fight night rolls around, which is why bookies favor him to defeat the mouthy Irishman.