Jake Paul has implored Conor McGregor to finally put pen to paper on a deal for a massive money fight between the pair, telling him to "put down the bottle".
The Irishman had generally remained quiet about Paul's efforts to secure a boxing match with him over the past few years, but has begun to engage more in recent months. He blasted both Jake and his brother Logan as "dingbats" before his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier, but speaking with Mirror Fighting in February declared that he would "never say never" to fighting the YouTuber.
And the feud heated up last night with the former two-weight UFC world champion taking to social media to offer his thoughts on Jake's interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. In the explosive chat, Paul told of how he feels McGregor needs activity in order to 'earn' a fight with him, which angered the Irishman.
McGregor tweeted that Paul has had "two fights and done 70k buys," before sending another message calling him "a flop" and "a nobody". The social media star took to Instagram to respond in a heated two-minute video, telling his rival that he must get back into action in order for the pair to fight.
"Conor, Conor, Conor," he joked. "You're more active on Twitter than you are in the octagon - your priorities are mixed up. Put down the bottle, and get back to fighting.
"You haven't won a fight in five f***ing years [McGregor won two-and-a-half years ago], and the last time you did was against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone. He hasn't won a fight against anyone since fighting you.
"I'm a nobody, you say in this tweet, and I guess you're right. I'm just a kid from Ohio, I am a nobody, but your sixth fight had literally two people in the crowd, and I'm going to be fighting my sixth fight at Madison Square Garden; the 'Mecca of boxing'. August 6, I know you'll be watching, kiddo."
McGregor has made monstrous money in his UFC career, including a $100million payday for facing Floyd Mayweather in a crossover boxing match in 2017. And it is believed that a bout between Paul and McGregor would generate as much as $200million for the pair, as well as even more in revenue.
But the Irishman is currently recovering from a broken leg, and wants to return and win another UFC title before entertaining another boxing match. Paul also disputed McGregor's comments about PPV buys, noting the statistics for his bouts to date.
"In your eighteenth fight, you made $150,000, in my fifth fight, I made $15m," Paul continued. "You want to talk about PPV buys? Nate Robinson; 1.8m. Ben Askren 500,000, Tyron Woodley 1 500,000, Tyron Woodley 2, nobody even wanted to see that fight and we got 200,000 PPV buys.
"In the last five years you've had zero PPV buys because you don't f***ing fight [McGregor has sold over 10million buys in his five boxing and MMA events since July 2017]. You have a lot to say about me but I'm sharing millions of dollars with underpaid fighters.
Who do you think wins; Conor McGregor or Jake Paul? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"You shouldn't have f***ed with me Conor, this is my game. There's a new king in town, this is my game, I'm running s*** now, what's up Conor? Last year when I was winning knockout of the year, you were just getting knocked out.
"Fix your calcium deficiency, stop breaking your bones and let's get in the ring and make $200m. Conor, no matter how you slice it, we're just not on the same level.
"I'm my own boss. Yeah, you made $100m when you fought Floyd, but Dana [White, UFC boss] took half of it. So no matter what you do or what you make, cut that s*** in half.
"If we go net worth for net worth, I would s*** on you, Conor. Put the bottle down, get off Twitter and get back in the ring and shut the f*** up, or I'm going to put you back on a leash. F*** you, Conor."
