Conor McGregor believes he has a piece of business to handle in the boxing ring before ending his three-and-a-half-year absence from the UFC cage.
A recent social media post from McGregor revealed that the former two-division UFC champ hopes to face social media influencer Logan Paul in a boxing match next year, an appearance he wants to take before refocusing on his MMA career.
“I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India,” said McGregor in an X post, mentioning the family name of Mukesh Ambani, a 67-year-old billionaire from India. “I have agreed. I will then seek my return to the Octagon.”
Only fanning the flames of a potential fight between the two, Paul mentioned McGregor by name while appearing as part of a press event hosted by WWE on Wednesday.
“Mike Tyson wants to fight me,” said Paul, while cutting an in-character promo as his WWE persona. “Conor McGregor wants to fight me. Of course they do. A payday with a Paul Brother is a bucket list item for most, all of these washed-up fighters.”
With no details regarding the fight, it’s unclear if an agreement has actually been sent out or if the matchup even truly exists. However, it’s the latest development which has pointed towards McGregor’s time away from the cage likely stretching past the four-year mark.
The Irish fighter, who hasn’t competed since his doctor stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier back at UFC 264, was at one point expected to get back in the cage earlier this year in a bout against Michael Chandler. However, after McGregor withdrew from the fight due to a toe injury, it kept his time as an inactive fighter going.
After the cancelled bout, it seemed like UFC planned to make McGregor wait longer for another opportunity. Last month, UFC CEO Dana White said in an interview on “The Jim Rome Show” that McGregor will fight in “the later part of next year.”
McGregor, while remaining a massive force in the MMA world, has been without success in the sport for a while. In just a month’s time it will officially be five years since his 40-second stoppage against Donald Cerrone, the most recent win on his record.
McGregor has received a large amount of media coverage in recent months due to his loss in a high-profile legal case. A Dublin courtroom found McGregor liable in a civil trial for the alleged 2018 rape of Irish hairdresser Nikita Hand last month, a ruling which has brought severe scrutiny toward the fighter within his home country and forced major businesses, including the Proper No. 12 whiskey brand he owned up until 2021, to severe their ties with him.
In the world of MMA, however, McGregor is seemingly unaffected by the result. UFC’s White said earlier this month that if he had a comment on the case, he “would have put it out already,” and that if McGregor returns, it will be sometime in 2025.
Knockdown News 