CONOR MCGREGOR has confirmed he’s open to a lucrative boxing match with YouTuber Jake Paul.
The UFC’s poster boy has been on the receiving end of multiple taunts and call-outs from the social media sensation over the last 14 months.
Jake Paul has been calling out Conor McGregor for the best part of 14 monthsCredit: INSTAGRAM@JAKEPAULThe Notorious didn’t initially address the prospect of a fight with the YouTuberCredit: GETTYBut the MMA mogul is now seemingly open to facing The Problem ChildCredit: REX
McGregor, 33, had initially paid little attention to the prospect of a bout with Paul, although he’s seemingly now intrigued by a potential boxing match the former Disney star.
When asked if he’d be open to locking horns with The Problem Child, he told the Mirror: “Who knows? Never say never.”
YouTube sensation Paul put McGregor back in his crosshairs before his viral knockout of former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley last December.
And The Notorious was also one of Paul’s targets in his Dana White diss track.
McGregor added: “I didn’t see the Woodley fight. It only did a couple thousand buys. I saw it online.
“I didn’t hear the diss track on Dana. I don’t pay attention to all of that.”
McGregor’s sights are currently set on a summer return to the octagon, which he hasn’t set foot in since breaking his leg last July.
The Irishman told SecondsOut: “I would like [to return at] International Fight Week.
“But we’ll see, though. I’ve got to take it day by day.
“April they said I’d be back sparring, back twisting and turning.
“I was told I could box a couple of months back and then all of sudden, I couldn’t box.
“So I’m just taking it day by day, there’s no rush. I’m in a great place mentally.
“Physically, I feel strong, I feel energetic. I’m always eager to get in a fight, so [I’ll] just take it day by day and it’ll happen.
“It will happen when the Lord wants it to happen.”
Conor McGregor is eyeing a return to the octagon at International Fight Week in JulyCredit: GETTY
Paul, meanwhile, is eyeing a September return to the boxing ring, saying: “There’s a lot going on in other aspects of my life.
“I’m going to do these press conferences over the next two weeks here to help with the promotion around Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano and I’m very busy on the business side of things with my venture capital fund.
“So I haven’t even got back into the gym or been training at all.
“I need to have a discussion with my coaches but probably I would say August-September maybe. Maybe later. I’m trying to figure it out.
“Obviously if the stars align in some sort of way or I have a change of heart, then things can obviously move around but right now I don’t feel like that motivated to just go right back into another training camp.”
