ATLANTA – Will Jake Paul vs. Conor McGregor actually come to fruition?
Paul isn’t sure. But after Saturday’s knockout of Ben Askren at Triller Fight Club’s latest pay-per-view event, the YouTube star thinks the odds of a fight he’s long asked for actually happening increased substantially.
“We’ll see,” Paul told MMA Junkie after the fight. “There are a lot of people. But honestly, when it comes down to signing the contract, these guys duck. Honestly, we’ll see. The McGregor fight just became more realistic, like I’ve been saying. I just want to do big fights.”
Unlike some of his MMA counterparts, McGregor did not chime in on Paul’s performance. UFC legend B.J. Penn, Bellator welterweight Dillon Danis, and former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley were among those that did.
While he has options, Paul said he is only interested in “big fights” that present a “big challenge.” Whichever brings in the most money and makes the most sense will be what he pursues.
“I’m going to take some time off,” Paul said. “I’ve been working my f*cking ass off. I’m only going to do big fights. I want to challenge myself at the same time. Ben Askren was a step up. OK, look what happened (in) 1:59. We’ll see who the next big challenge is. I don’t want to take some bullsh*t sh*t. I want to challenge myself. I want to do 3 million, 4 million pay-per-view buys. Who’s going to bring in those numbers?”
Paul has won all three of his boxing fights thus far, though they’ve all been scheduled against non-boxing celebrities. First, he defeated YouTuber Ali Eson Gib by first-round TKO. In his sophomore outing, Paul faceplanted former NBA star Nate Robinson in Round 2. The vicious knockout went viral.
Paul’s TKO of Askren on Saturday was the quickest finish of his professional boxing career.
Meanwhile, McGregor is currently scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier in a trilogy fight at UFC 264 on July 10. To date, the Irish MMA fighter has largely ignored Paul’s repeated callouts and jabs on social media, which included crass comments about McGregor’s fiancee, Dee Devlin.
Triller Fight Club took place Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Jake Paul vs. Conor McGregor? YouTube star says it’s ‘more realistic’ after knockout of Ben Askren
