Conor McGregor appears to have ruled out a future fight with Jake Paul by insisting he "couldn't care less" about crossover boxing.
The Notorious, 34, was recently called out by YouTuber KSI on Twitter ahead of his fight with the UFC star's teammate, Dillon Danis, next month. KSI looks to maintain his unbeaten record in the ring by welcoming Danis in the talented grappler's boxing debut, with the six-round fight taking place at Wembley Arena in London.
KSI warned McGregor that Danis will take "serious damage" in their fight, but McGregor fired back by mocking the Brit for his gaming career. "I’m sorry but I’m about to do some serious damage to your boy," KSI wrote, to which McGregor replied: "Brother you’re a friendly little nerd I don’t care. [Dillon] should be back doing mma if he is doing this little nothing burger match with you. I couldn’t care less about this genre of boxing, I am sorry. Have a good one."
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Just minutes later, McGregor backtracked on his comments by joking that he would take part in crossover boxing if there were belts on the line. "Conor will defo fight in that genre of boxing he doesn't care. In 5-6 years," one fan wrote as McGregor replied: "Ah go on then, will there be belts? Hahahah"
Paul then involved himself in the conversation by mocking McGregor's belt demand and taking aim at his losing form in the Octagon. The former two-weight champion lost both of his fights against Dustin Poirier last year and Paul predicts he would knock McGregor out in the cage and the ring.
"You fight for belts? Last time you fought for a belt was 4 years ago. Lost 3 of your last 4 fights. I would knock you out in the squared circle with one hand tied behind my back. To be fair, in the cage I would need two hands. But same result," Paul wrote.
Paul has called for fights against several UFC stars since ditching his internet fame for a career in boxing - and he got his wish in October as 'The Problem Child' beat UFC legend Anderson Silva in his sixth professional fight.
McGregor's UFC deal is set to expire in October, meaning he will be unable to fight elsewhere unless the promotion grants him the same special exemption as they did for his 2017 fight with Floyd Mayweather. The Irishman has already stated that he would consider a return to boxing, but only after finishing his story in the UFC.
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