Ireland’s Conor McGregor confirms preliminary talks to fight American social media influencer and former boxer Logan Paul.
Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has reached a tentative agreement to fight American social media influencer and former fighter Logan Paul in an exhibition boxing match, the former UFC champion said on social media.
The Irish fighter added in his revelation on X that he was in talks with the family of billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani for the fight. “I have made tentative arrangements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in India. I agreed,” McGregor wrote on Tuesday.
McGregor also said that rumors of a possible fight with Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champion Ilia Topuria were false. McGregor said he would “pursue his return to the Octagon” after his boxing match with Paul.
Topuria also denied any speculation that he would fight McGregor.
“The rumors of a fight with Mchicken are false,” Topuria said on social media. “I don’t fight and I’m not interested in fighting a rapist.”
McGregor’s announcement comes less than a month after a civil court jury in Ireland ruled that he must pay nearly $257,000 to a woman who said he “brutally raped” her in a Dublin hotel penthouse in December 2018 and mistreated.”
Nikita Hand said the attack left her seriously injured and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. McGregor testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said she made up the allegations after the two had consensual sex.
The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual violence unless they come forward publicly, as Hand has done.
McGregor, 36, was once the UFC’s biggest star but has not injured his leg since in a fight with Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Last June, he pulled out of a scheduled UFC 303 match with Michael Chandler, later saying it was due to a broken toe.
Paul is a YouTuber turned boxer. He previously survived eight rounds in a fight three years ago against retired five-division champion Floyd Mayweather, who is 18 years his senior. His brother Jake Paul won a unanimous decision over 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in Arlington, Texas, last month.
The fight between Jake Paul and Tyson was the first live sporting event on Netflix, announcing that the fight was seen in 60 million households.
