Jake Paul and Conor McGregor
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson was a huge commercial success. Could Paul vs. Conor McGregor in a boxing match be bigger? We might get a chance to find out.
According to ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez, a fight between the influencer-turned boxer and the former UFC champion is “on the table for July, August or September 2025.”
Four hours after Rodriguez’s post, McGregor took to X with a three-letter post: “TKO.”
The somewhat cryptic post appears to be referencing the parent company that controls WWE and UFC. That post is taken as some indication that the UFC may not stand in the way of this potential mega event.
Previously, McGregor had posted about his agreement to face Logan Paul in an exhibition match in India with the financial backing of the Albani family. Logan acknowledged the concept with his own post.
Jake followed those rumors with a post suggesting he’d been approached with the concept.
Long-time MMA journalist Ariel Helwani suggested he’d heard the initial interest from McGregor and the Albani family was in Jake, but the latter didn’t want to be a part of any discussions that would ultimately be blocked by the UFC.
McGregor is still under contract with the UFC for two more fights. The UFC has been notoriously resistant to allowing their fighters to participate in crossover combat sports events, aside from the occasional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition.
In 2017, UFC President Dana White made an exception for McGregor to box Floyd Mayweather.
White would not allow Francis Ngannou the same freedom, which according to the latter, is part of the reason he left the UFC and signed with the Professional Fighters League. Recently, White teased he was working on something that no one would see coming.
That tease caused a ton of speculation, but we haven’t gotten any indication about the details. Many suspected White might have been referring to Logan vs. McGregor, but it may apply to Jake vs. the Irish superstar.
McGregor has been out of action since he was beaten by TKO against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. He’s lost two in a row and four of his last five in the Octagon. McGregor was supposed to fight Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 302 during International Fight Week in June, but the former pulled out.
Chandler had been waiting to fight McGregor for two years and decided to go elsewhere for UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Chandler fought Charles Oliveira in a rematch and lost the fight via unanimous decision.
White and McGregor have insisted the former will return to the Octagon in 2025, but perhaps this fight with Jake or Logan could precede his return to the UFC.
McGregor is part-owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and is often among the most vocal on social media during the promotion’s events. Most recently, McGregor took shots at DAZN, the broadcast partner for BKFC, for not allotting time for post-fight interviews for winners.
In any case, McGregor’s return to combat sports—on any level—is sure to draw a crowd.
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