Conor McGregor finally breaks his silence on Jake Paul
Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor has finally spoken about controversial YouTube star Jake Paul and the latest trend of social media influencers getting into pro-boxing.
Jake Paul has been in the news lately thanks to his notorious callouts of Conor McGregor for a boxing match. Paul insulted Conor, his teammates and even his longtime girlfriend Dee Devlin over the past few months. Alhough Paul's antics drew the ire of the entire MMA community including UFC president Dana White and McGregor's former foe Nate Diaz, the Irishman refused to acknowledge the existence of the YouTube star until recently.
In a recent interview with Spotlight Updates, the Irishman was asked whether YouTubers stepping inside the boxing ring for big money makes a mockery of the sport. Conor McGregor respectfully replied by saying that anyone who's willing to step inside the ring to fight, isn't making a mockery of the sport. Conor McGregor also said that he is not against YouTube stars featuring in pro-boxing events.
"If they're fighting then they can't make a mockery of it. If they're getting in and they're competing, I'm not so much against it."
The Irishman was also told that Jake Paul's last fight against former NBA ace Nate Robinson, which co-headlined that Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr. event sold more than 1 million pay-per-views. However, McGregor was quick to remind everyone that it wasn't Jake Paul but Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. whose much anticipated boxing returns made the massive numbers from PPV sales.
Conor McGregor refers to Jake Paul as 'The YouTube kid'
Hailing Tyson as the GOAT of combat sports, McGregor said that people were excited to see how he'd would perform after returning to the ring following a 15-year-long absence.
"The numbers that show calculated was because it was a Mike Tyson fight you know. Tyson is an iconic fighter and so is Roy Jones. They're two GOATs in the world of combat sports. Then there's the YouTube kid and a former NBA star competing underneath that, so it done good business."
McGregor took a slight dig at Jake Paul by referring to him as a 'YouTube kid' while speaking about his fight with Robinson. McGregor also said that Robinson and Paul aren't premier level fighters and their fight wasn't as interesting as Tyson vs Jones Jr.
McGregor concluded by stating that he is not against YouTubers competing in pro-boxing events because 'if it makes dollars, it makes sense'. Conor McGregor said that if these social media influencers are willing to take a risk and step inside the ring, he is certainly interested to see them as a viewer.
Conor McGregor's maturity shone through in how he spoke about Jake Paul. He was respectful, yet made it pretty obvious that Paul is not on his level. However, McGregor didn't close the doors on the possibility of a boxing match in the future. He is now scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 on January 23.