MMA star Conor McGregor claims the UFC pulled the plug on a proposed exhibition boxing match between him and WWE fighter and YouTuber Logan Paul that was set to take place in India.
“The UFC just aren’t into it,” McGregor told “The Schmo” in an interview Thursday. “The offer was there on the table, in writing, both athletes we’ll say – he’s not a fighter, but whatever – both athletes under the TKO banner.”
He added: “In between this waiting period that we find ourselves in before I can get back to the Octagon, it made perfect sense on the calendar to go ahead with it. The UFC weren’t into it. I’m not sure the WWE what their interest in it was, I just knew the UFC weren’t into it.”
McGregor announced in December that he was delaying his return to the UFC to square off with Paul in an exhibition boxing match.
The Irish MMA star hasn’t competed since breaking his leg in the opening round of his fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021. The 36-year-old was expected to return to the Octagon last year against Michael Chandler but was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a toe injury.
McGregor admitted that he’s more inclined to participate in fights against influencers because they’re “an interesting little side pocket branch,” naming both Logan and Jake Paul as well as KSI as potential opponents.
McGregor, who’s a part-owner of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, also teased the potential of competing in his own promotion as a surprise entrant.
“One of these days, you’ll just hear my music go onto the stage of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, and out I come with my fists wrapped, with no gloves and a fight out of nowhere,” he said.
“The Notorious” went toe-to-toe with Floyd Mayweather in his professional boxing debut in 2017, when McGregor sustained a TKO in the 10th round at the hands of the former world champion.
A civil jury in Ireland found McGregor liable last November for sexually assaulting a woman Dec. 9, 2018, in a Dublin hotel penthouse. He’s also being sued for sexually assaulting a woman after a 2023 NBA Finals game in Miami.
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