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UFC superstar Conor McGregor already has two fights lined up for 2021, but now another one seems to be on the horizon. At least that’s what Jake Paul told TMZ Sports this week after winning his second professional prizefight against ex-NBA star Nate Robinson on the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. pay-per-view event.
“I’m going in there to f***ing f*** Conor McGregor up,” Paul said per TMZ Sports.
According to Paul, negotiations for the megafight boxing match have already begun.
“Yeah, my team is talking to his manager,” Paul said per TMZ Sports. “But that’s, that’s all I’ll say. And no other fighter with this big of a platform is calling out McGregor. My dogs have more followers than the guy he’s fighting in January.”
The “guy he’s fighting in January”, of course, is UFC star Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier at UFC 257.
The rematch is OFFICIAL!
💎 @DustinPoirier faces 🇮🇪 @TheNotoriousMMA on Jan 23. #UFC257
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Paul Keeps Calling Out McGregor
Paul has called out McGregor a few times over the past several months, but McGregor has yet to publicly respond to any of the challenges.
While that’s not terribly uncommon in combat sports, it is a little strange for McGregor, at least these days, not to have addressed by now something like a repetitive callout by a massive celebrity in some form or fashion.
Is it because McGregor and Paul are already negotiating terms for their fight?
“The Jake Paul vs. Conor McGregor fight is going to happen,” Paul said per TMZ. “Just a matter of when.”
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Paul Believes He Can Beat McGregor
Paul believes he can outbox McGregor.
“It’s going to be legendary,” Paul said per TMZ Sports. “And I’m going to win, too. That’s what I really want people to understand. And I told my friends this, I was like, ‘Guys, this is gonna happen, but not only that–I am going to dedicate my life to winning that fight.'”
Paul is 2-0 as a professional. He stopped fellow YouTuber Ali Eson Gib in each man’s pro debut in January and did the same to Robinson over the weekend.
Did you see that knockout? It was quite spectacular.
But taking on McGregor would be a huge leap up in competition.
While Paul has been training as a pro fighter for over a year now, McGregor’s vast experience as an elite professional fighter, as well as the Irishman’s high level of skill inside a boxing ring, would likely make Paul a huge underdog in the fight.
Still, Paul seems to believe he can beat McGregor in a boxing match.
“Because I’m not just going in there just to f***ing say I did it. I’m going in there to f***ing f*** Conor McGregor up.”
McGregor’s Massive Plans for 2021
McGregor already announced earlier this year that he plans on boxing Manny Pacquiao next year, too.
That means McGregor is headed into the Octagon against Poirier at UFC 257 on January 23, into a boxing ring to face boxing champ Pacquiao sometime after that, and possibly another time for another boxing bout against Paul.
Those three fights, along with McGregor’s consistent assertion that he plans on staying very active in the UFC’s lightweight division next year, means the fighter could be on his way to his busiest season yet.
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