Jake Paul has been told to drop his plans to increase UFC fighter pay if he wants to secure a showdown with Conor McGregor.
The YouTube star approached the promotion's kingpin Dana White on social media to offer him the chance of exploring a meeting between Paul and McGregor in the octagon, to which White refused to rule out. However this deal included a conditional review of the current pay structure and healthcare in the promotion if he secured victory.
Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub believes Paul will receive his shot against the Irishman irrespective of White "playing ball" with the rising star's plans. "You're talking about a guy, who is chomping at the bit to change the game as far as fighter pay goes," Schaub said on an episode of The Schaub Show. "Because [ Jake Paul ] goes, 'Do you think I actually have a shot to get the Conor McGregor fight?' I go, 'I think you do.
"I think it happens no matter what if Dana wants to play ball or not I think it happens.' And I said, 'My advice for you is, if you want it to happen in the UFC and have Dana be part of this, you gotta back off the fighter pay, now.' Let's say, which he wouldn't, but let's say he made $80M off Jake Paul vs. Conor McGregor.
"They're still going to be in the negative because all the years of changing that fighter pay, which is thousands of fighters over the years, it doesn't make sense for Dana to do it. And I go through all this and he's not talking, he's letting me talk to him, 'Yeah that makes sense. I'm not, yeah I didn't think of it like that. Yeah, yeah.' He goes, 'I don't think I can do it though, if they're not gonna raise fighter pay. I'm not gonna do it.' And I went, 'Whoa.'"
Paul is confident he could beat McGregor in the UFC despite having no prior background in MMA. McGregor currently weighs around 190lb which would bridge a significant gap if the pair were to stage a showdown.
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Footage was released of Paul training as he prepares for an MMA debut, with talks also being held with promotions Bellator and PFL over a potential debut. UFC star Anthony Smith believes it would be a much better fight if the pair staged an event in the boxing ring.
"Him fighting Conor in a boxing match, that would probably be a pretty good fight, to be honest with you," Smith told MMA Fighting. "But is he going to knock him out in an MMA fight? No. Not when Conor gets kicking — he’s going to kick Jake Paul’s head right off his shoulders.
"People say that Jake can wrestle a little bit so [he] might be able to keep it a little bit competitive for a minute or so. But no, in an MMA fight, he’s going to get barbecued.”
