"In an MMA fight, he's gonna get barbecued" - Anthony Smith doubtful of Jake Paul's chances in fight with Conor McGregor
Anthony Smith feels Jake Paul vs. Conor McGregor under MMA rules would be a mismatch of epic proportions. Smith's view comes after 'The Problem Child' recently claimed he'd knock McGregor out in a potential clash inside the octagon.
During an interview with TMZ Sports, Paul claimed that McGregor is on the wane in terms of his fighting prowess and would suffer defeat against him in a potential bout. He claimed he'd outstrike McGregor and put the Irishman away inside the first round.
"Conor is on a downhill spiral. His limbs are all broken, so, standup game, I’m knocking him out, first round," said Paul.
However, according to UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith, McGregor would absolutely dominate Paul in an MMA fight. 'Lionheart' thinks that while Paul might make the fight seem competitive for "a minute or so" due to his wrestling background, McGregor would surely finish him sooner or later.
In a boxing match, however, Smith feels that Paul could give McGregor a hard time due to his massive size advantage. During an appearance on MMA Fighting's The Fighter vs. The Writer, Smith said:
"Jake Paul’s my size...He’s way north of 200 pounds. Him fighting Conor in a boxing match, that would probably be a pretty good fight, to be honest with you. But is he going to knock him out in an MMA fight? No. 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 gonna get barbecued.”
Watch Anthony Smith's appearance on The Writer vs. The Fighter below:
Jake Paul reveals timeline for next fight
Jake Paul recently hinted that he's likely to return to the boxing ring for his sixth fight in August.
The YouTube star-turned-boxer shared a clip on Instagram where he can be seen doing padwork during a training session. In the video, Paul talks about potentially competing in August. He also captioned the post, "6-0 coming soon."
Watch the clip below:
Paul is currently 5-0 as a professional boxer and has finished four of those fights. In his last bout, Paul picked up a spectacular sixth-round knockout victory against former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in their December 2021 rematch.
As much as I hate Jake Paul this fake body shot was absolutely gorgeous… slowed it down so y’all can see the split second that he used to trick Tyron Woodley into dropping his hands. beautiful shot… still waiting to see Jake get dropped. Woodley gets KO’d… #boxing #PaulWoodley https://t.co/my2AzCjyo1
Although Paul has expressed a desire to fight in August, he is yet to reveal the name of his next opponent.