Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is reportedly setting up a major deal to have Conor McGregor fight Paulie Malignaggi.
The bare-knuckle boxing promotion that recently signed former two-division champion boxer Paulie Malignaggi to a deal is looking for more than a bout between him and a teammate of Conor McGregor. They want McGregor himself to step in there with the Magic Man.
According to UK boxing journalist Michael Benson, BKFC is reportedly putting some “mega-money” on the table to have McGregor fight Malignaggi under bare-knuckle boxing rules.
Told by Paulie Malignaggi that the BKFC are preparing a mega money offer to Conor McGregor for a bare-knuckle boxing match with him. He insists they have more money than people think and also confirmed it’s possible he could make his June debut against Artem Lobov.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 18, 2019
The rift between McGregor and Malignaggi began in 2017, when both fighters became sparring partners in preparation for Conor’s boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Since then, Malignaggi has been campaigning hard for a fight with “The Notorious”, throwing shade every time he has had the chance to.
The 38-year-old Malignaggi signed with BKFC early this month and has been eyeing for a fight against McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov, who was released from the UFC in late January.
It seems extremely unlikely that McGregor would ever entertain the idea of this considering his UFC deal, but you never know. Meanwhile, Conor says that he’s currently negotiating his return to the Octagon and could fight as early as July.