Jake Paul is willing to fight at a career-light 175lb in order to secure a clash with UFC legend Conor McGregor.
Paul has been chasing a fight with the Irishman since before he made his professional boxing debut in 2020 but has received little encouragement from the former two-time UFC champion. McGregor has recently begun to acknowledge the YouTube star with some disparaging social media comments, but a fight between the two remains some way off.
McGregor, who has not fought since breaking his leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier last summer, has two fights remaining on his UFC contract. The promotion is likely to do everything it can to hold on to their star attraction, assuming he makes a successful return from injury.
Paul, meanwhile, has racked up a professional record of 5-0, beating fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, former NBA star Nate Robinson and former MMA standouts Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley. But his sixth professional fight against Hasim Rahman Jr has been cancelled after Paul accused the heavyweight of failing to make weight for the contest.
But despite an inevitable wait to face McGregor, Paul has already set his sights on making the fight at the light-heavyweight limit. That would be the highest McGregor has fought at, although only by five pounds following his three bouts at welterweight in the UFC.
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It would see Paul force himself to lose a stone from his frame having previously fought at 190lb. Asked on the DAZN Boxing Show whether a potential fight with McGregor is bigger than a rematch between McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, Paul said: "Me vs. Conor is a way bigger fight. We know it’s just a money play if they fight.
"Me vs Conor is way more competitive, there’ll be way more s*** talked, way more entertaining, and it’s the one that everyone really wants. We would both come in at 175lb, it just makes more sense. We're both younger, we're both in the prime of our careers in terms of our notoriety, it just makes sense."
