Stephen A. Smith has all but counted out Conor McGregor in a potential boxing match with Logan Paul.
[autotag]Stephen A. Smith[/autotag] heavily dismisses [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] in a potential boxing match againt [autotag]Logan Paul[/autotag].
McGregor on Tuesday made a surprise announcement that he is in preliminary talks to box Paul in an exhibition match in India before making his UFC return – a fight which will be organized by the extremely wealthy Ambani Family.
Smith isn’t against the idea of McGregor boxing before returning to the octagon. With McGregor having not competed since July 2021, Smith believes “The Notorious” would get seriously hurt if he competed in MMA first thing back. If McGregor does end up lacing up the gloves against Paul, the ESPN analyst doesn’t like his chances.
“I think Logan Paul is going to beat him,” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “I don’t think that Conor McGregor is a boxer; he’s a striker. So, he’s sitting up there, and he ain’t even throwing his jab. He’s pitter-pattering. You ain’t clipping Logan Paul like that. You’ve got to do more than that.
“We don’t know yet (which size gloves they’re using), but it doesn’t matter. Unless it’s pillows like 16 or 18 ounces, it ain’t going to work. I just think that Logan Paul is bigger, he’s a much bigger man, he’s a more experienced boxer.”
With McGregor walking around at a much larger weight than his UFC championship days, Smith doesn’t see his precision and speed in the octagon translating to the ring. He pointed to McGregor’s 10th-round TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather in their August 2017 boxing match, in which McGregor significantly slowed down as the rounds went down.
“Those big muscles are going to make you a bit slower, and you’ve got to remember that Conor had quickness, he could catch you quick and clip you,” Smith said. “That’s not going to be the case in the boxing ring.”
How seriously should fight fans take UFC star Conor McGregor’s claim that he’s in agreement to fight Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition?
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Sometimes all it takes is one [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] social media post to set the combat sports world into a tizzy, as was the case Tuesday when the UFC’s biggest star shared that he has agreed to an exhibition boxing match against [autotag]Logan Paul[/autotag].
What? That certainly came out of nowhere.
At least part of the motivation for McGregor’s middle-of-the-night (in the U.S.) X post was to quell rumors of a UFC fight against featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. McGregor’s post also suggested that India’s extremely wealthy Ambani Family will organize the event.
The rumors of a bout with topurio are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India.
I have agreed.
I will then seek my return to the Octagon.
How serious should fight fans take McGregor’s claim? Here’s what we know.
Did Dana White tease McGregor vs. Paul?
This past Saturday after UFC on ESPN 63, Dana White spoke with reporters and was asked about the UFC’s plans for 2025 coming off another successful year. And in the process of a long-winded answer, the UFC boss teased something big and suggested it would come as a surprise.
“I’ve got something in the works right now. I’ll drive you f*ckers crazy, all you guys will be running around,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “I’ve got something in the works that you will never f*cking see coming for 2025, that literally started to come together last night.”
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Junkie that White was pitched on the idea of a fight between McGregor and Paul last Friday, although it’s unclear who took part in that meeting.
Why McGregor vs. Paul could be legit
While a potential fight between McGregor and Paul does seem out of left field, it could make sense given their affiliations.
With McGregor under contract with UFC and Paul tied to WWE, that puts both men under the TKO umbrella. It stands to reason that if TKO executives want to put on a crossover event headlined by McGregor vs. Paul, the fight could certainly come to fruition.
Also working in the fight’s favor is the fact that Paul already is one of the UFC’s business partners through his Prime energy drink.
Jake Paul weighs in on possible McGregor fight vs. his brother
While White has been in a years-long war of words with Logan’s brother, Jake Paul, over fighter pay, he’s had nothing but praise for Logan, calling him “f*cking brilliant” in 2023.
Jake, who has repeatedly called out McGregor during his meteoric rise from YouTuber to professional boxer, weighed in on the possibility that McGregor would fight his brother on X, claiming that McGregor’s team has been “desperately trying” to negotiate with Most Valuable Promotions.
Now it all makes sense why Conor Mcgregor & his management team have been desperately trying to get MVP to negotiate for a fight between us.
As we told them them privately & I’m now saying it publicly…the only way we’re willing to explore me vs Conor in a pro boxing / mma fight…
Who is the Ambani Family and why would they be involved?
Mukesh Ambani, patriarch of the Ambani Family, is an Indian businessman and one of the richest people in the world with an estimated net worth of $121 billion, according to Business Insider earlier this year. His company, Reliance Industries, conducts business in a multitude of sectors – including energy, natural gas, telecommunications, and more.
Given Ambani doesn’t have any history of promoting or investing in combat sports, it’s unclear why he would back McGregor vs. Paul. His company, however, does have ties to the entertainment industry – and a McGregor vs. Paul event would surely draw mainstream interest similar to, if not beyond, this past November’s Netflix event headlined by Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson.
Logan Paul’s first reaction
With all the buzz permeating Tuesday’s news cycle, Paul finally reacted (sort of) to a potential fight with McGregor on his Instagram Story, adding the big eyes emoji to a graphic that included McGregor’s original tweet.
The 36-year-old MMA fighter who once fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the boxing ring delivered a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) early Tuesday morning with this claim: “The rumors of a bout with [Ilia] Topurio are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India.”
Only then will he “seek [his] return to the Octagon.”
Hmm. That’s all we’ve got, so we’ll see what Paul’s camp says about it. But that’s intriguing.
The rumors of a bout with topurio are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India. I have agreed. I will then seek my return to the Octagon.
Mike Tyson swatted at Jake Paul at their boxing weigh-in, as if that’s any surprise.
Former boxer/convicted rapist Mike Tyson and noted grifter/YouTube idiot Jake Paul decided to do what they’re great at and cause an unnecessary scene to preview their live-streamed boxing match on Friday.
Ahead of Netflix paying these two blithering dunderheads obscene amounts of money to “punch” each other and degrade the sport of boxing for your morbid entertainment, Tyson decided to get a swipe in at Paul during the weigh-in as people looked on and pretended to be shocked.
Two boxers getting into it at a weigh-in is one of the oldest tropes in the sport. These two just made something so routine look like two third-graders getting into it while they’re in line walking to the library for a Scholastic Book Fair because one of them wiped a wet booger on the other’s Lightning McQueen backpack.
Only in this instance, Tyson was wearing an ugly Speedo and Paul looked like a Cobra Kai extra who got fired for flipping over the catering table because somebody pointed out he had toilet paper attached to his Crocs.
You will leave the event none the wiser, shamelessly chortling at the de-evolution of humankind and dreading the day you must explain to your children you spent your time watching this clickbait catastrophe instead of volunteering at a charity or cleaning out your sock drawer.
Fun fact: Mike Judge actually cut this fight from Idiocracy because it was too on the nose, and this is a movie where one scene shows a theater full of people dying of laughter at the suspended image of a human buttocks. Let that sink in; this ordeal is dumber than a photo of a butt.
The fight, if you really want to call it that and not a gross byproduct of the attention-at-all-costs economy, is Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix, unless the universe spares us all by sending a merciful asteroid to wipe out civilization for sanctioning such absolute buffoonery between two headline-starved narcissists who will do basically anything to capitalize on their festering boils of fame before they fade into the abyss. Eat at Arby’s.
Could we see a brother vs. brother bout if Mike Tyson can’t make it to the boxing ring? Logan is up for fighting Jake in an all-Paul brawl.
[autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] may have found a replacement opponent for his now-postponed fight against [autotag]Mike Tyson[/autotag], and it would be a family affair.
MVP Promotions announced on Friday that the Paul vs. Tyson boxing bout originally scheduled for June 7 in Dallas has been postponed. The promotion cited health concerns for Tyson, who recently had a medical emergency due to an ulcer flareup.
The bout is expected to be rescheduled for later in 2024, but if for some reason, the promotion decides to go in a different direction other than the 57-year-old Tyson, Jake’s brother Logan has thrown his name into the mix.
“So Mike Tyson’s out? I’ll step in and we can settle this once and for all @jakepaul,” Logan wrote on X.
Soon after, Jake offered his reply.
“Mom doesn’t want me to KO you, but f*ck it,” Jake wrote. “Loser has to change their last name.”
Both Paul brothers have dabbled in boxing competitions to varying degrees over the years and have teased an endgame-type showdown between each other on more than one occasion.
Logan has shared the ring twice with fellow YouTuber KSI, former Bellator fighter Dillon Danis, and one of the best boxers in the sport’s history, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
While Logan has spent more time focusing on his career as a WWE Superstar, Jake has become dedicated to boxing.
After his professional debut in 2020, Jake has competed in 10 professional bouts, sharing the ring with YouTubers, professional boxers, and former MMA champions such as Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva.
#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes recalled his experience of seeing “40,000 middle fingers” before defeating the #Bills in the playoffs.
The Kansas City Chiefs have become the NFL’s villain.
Following in the footsteps of the New England Patriots, the Chiefs’ dominance in recent years has earned Kansas City far more foes than friends.
Super Bowl LVIII MVP Patrick Mahomes has effortlessly transitioned from playing the role of a scrappy underdog to that of a new-age Tom Brady and revealed how he is welcomed at opponents’ stadiums in a recent interview.
Speaking to Logan Paul on the Impaulsive podcast, Mahomes recounted the reception he got at Highmark Stadium in January before bouncing the Buffalo Bills from the AFC playoffs.
Patrick Mahomes on Bills fans:
“I got to Buffalo this year and saw 40,000 middle fingers on the way to the stadium. I’m trying to hand my headband and sleeve to a kid and snowballs are flying at me, I’m like, these people really don't like me” pic.twitter.com/3akrvaQWj8
“I got to Buffalo this year and I think I saw … 40,000 middle fingers on the way into the stadium,” Mahomes said. “They were ready to go. Then, we go out there and win, I’m trying to hand my headband and sleeve off to a kid, and snowballs are just flying at me. These people really don’t like me. It’s not fake at all.”
Whether opposing fans like him or not, they’ll have to continue dealing with Mahomes every January until their team comes up with a way to stop him.
#Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith made an appearance on WWE RAW in Kansas City on Monday. | @EdEastonJr
The stars were out at the T-Mobile Center for WWE Monday Night RAW, and the Kansas City Chiefs were front and center throughout the show. Patrick Mahomes played the role of the ‘heel’ (a villain) in support of his friend and business partner Logan Paul during a segment altercation in front of the many Chiefs fans in attendance.
Mahomes started the show walking in with Paul and the treacherous Judgement Day members of Finn Balor, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, and the World Heavyweight Champion Damien Priest. He was shown ringside as the group got into an altercation with rival superstar Jey Uso regarding an upcoming title shot.
The three-time Super Bowl champion, sitting between Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, allegedly handed Paul his championship ring to use as brass knuckles against Uso. Paul inadvertently missed his punch and instead connected with McDonagh of The Judgement Day, who knocked him out before the gang was chased out of the ring by a returning Braun Strowman.
Strowman chased Paul away while turning his attention to Mahomes at ringside for a staredown, but his offensive line immediately protected him. Strowman backed down from the Chiefs’ starting center and guard as the reigning Super Bowl MVP stood untouched.
It was a fun night in Kansas City as Mahomes showed more acting chops in a wrestling venue, which may have sparked a future match in the WWE. The reaction from head coach Andy Reid to Monday night’s events should be entertaining.
Corey Graves pointed to SummerSlam in Cleveland and noted the ties that Logan and Jake Paul have to that city.
WWE fans have grown to appreciate — albeit grudgingly in some cases — the way Logan Paul has acclimated to pro wrestling so quickly. Could the same go for his younger brother Jake Paul? WWE commentator Corey Graves thinks so.
To date, Jake Paul’s only WWE appearances have come while supporting Logan, as he did at Crown Jewel in the fall of 2022. But Graves believes that not only will the social media star and boxer follow his sibling to WWE, he may even do it in the next few months.
Appearing on The Gunz Show podcast, Graves pointed out that Jake Paul is currently training for a high profile and mush discussed boxing match with Mike Tyson. But after that, he believes the 27-year-old could turn up by one of WWE’s biggest events of the year (h/t Fightful for the transcription).
If I’m being totally honest, I would start counting down the minutes before Jake shows up. I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon with the Tyson fight looming, but on a long enough timeline, we have to have the Paul brothers competing in the tag division at least once or twice. It just dawned on me that SummerSlam is in Cleveland this year. That’s where the Paul brothers hail from. I’m just saying. I don’t know anything, I’m just theorizing and putting it out into the universe. Maybe Jake Paul will be in WWE sooner rather than later.
The Cleveland connection is hard to ignore, as WWE (and pro wrestling companies in general, to be fair) has had tremendous success utilizing celebrities and stars from other sports in their hometown markets. SummerSlam would almost certainly be too early for Jake Paul to have a full-fledged match, but the idea of him doing something there that would start the ball rolling on a full-time role with the company doesn’t seem too far-fetched at all.
That’s good news for anyone curious to see if the Paul family lightning can strike twice, though it’s probably less thrilling for those who find Logan’s antics annoying. Still, given that Jake Paul also has a large existing fan base and knowing how well that worked out for his brother, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if Graves is on point about him showing up before the end of the year.
Check out these photos from Logan Paul’s WrestleMania 40 victory over Randy Orton and Kevin Owens in Philadelphia.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Logan Paul[/autotag]’s victory over [autotag]Kevin Owens[/autotag] and [autotag]Randy Orton[/autotag] to retain the United States Title at WrestleMania 40, which took place April 7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Photos by Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports, Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The odds were against him, but Logan Paul retained his United States Championship at WrestleMania 40.
Always one to make an entrance, Logan Paul rides to the ring on a giant Prime bottle in the back of an enormous six-wheeled Prime truck. A Prime bottle mascot also bops down the ramp, and we’ll see if it’s once again KSI.
Sami Zayn greets Kevin Owens on the way out the curtain with a simple message: “Your turn now.” He walks out, sees the Prime truck, goes back and gets a “KO” golf cart and crotch chops the truck.
When Randy Orton is ready for his entrance, Owens backs up the cart and offers the Viper a ride. Randy can be seen telling KO to slow down as they fly down the ramp.
Paul is being chased by both challengers right off the bat, and he finds no refuge out on the floor. The Prime Hydration Station is in the line of fire as well, but when the fight returns to the ring, Paul pushed Owens into Orton and tries to get them to turn on each other.
Narrator: It does not work.
Alas, Orton sees a chance to go for an RKO on Owens and is sheepish when Owens fights it off. They discuss it briefly and decide to start throwing hands. Paul naturally takes advantage of the other two fighting and moves in to try to pick their bones, one at a time.
Owens gets both of the others into one corner, hitting a double cannonball. He tries for a Swanton but Paul gets his knees up.
Pau connects on his own Swanton, then rolls through to splash Orton for a near fall. Logan and Randy start trading uppercuts, with the champ getting the best of the exchange.
But Paul ends up getting tossed to the floor, leaving Orton free to powerslam KO. Paul wants a Buckshot, but his unsure footing allows Orton the time to powerslam him too.
Orton hits the vintage DDT on both of his foes, but they recover quickly for a sequence of counters, leading to a Codebreaker on Orton and senton on Paul that gives Owens a near fall. To the corner they go, with KO eventually hitting a moonsault on Paul for a two count.
Orton hits an RKO on Owens and it’s still not enough. Now it’s a right hand from Paul with the brass knux, and the Maverick is befuddled when Orton kicks out at 2.99. Owens tries to come back in and gets hit by two brass knux shots.
Picking Orton back up, Paul wants a big swing with the knux and eats an RKO instead. The Prime battle unmasks, but it’s not KSI this time, it’s IShowSpeed. Orton is unamused and kicks him, strips the bottle costume off him and RKOs him on the announce table.
The distraction did its job, though, as Paul sneaks up and runs Orton into the post. Owens has recovered as well, hitting Paul with a Popup Powerbomb and Orton with a Stunner, and he covers Randy for two.
Orton counters a Popup Powerbomb with an RKO, but he’s quickly thrown to the floor. Paul hits a frog splash and covers Orton, and that’s enough to finally finish things.
