Ahead of his next boxing bout, Jake Paul is trading barbs outside of the ring.
During a Thursday press conference in advance of his fight against former UFC competitor Mike Perry, Paul shaded star Conor McGregor.
“Conor McGregor can say what he wants, but he won’t fight me either,” Paul quipped. “Once I knock out Mike Perry, Conor McGregor, let’s run it –– but you won’t do it, because you know what’s going to happen. … Conor McGregor, lay off the cocaine, get in the gym and start winning fights, and then maybe we can have a conversation.”
During a presser for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship earlier Thursday, McGregor dissed Paul while promoting Perry, who competed for several years in the offshoot MMA league.
“Now, he [Perry] is up against a little dweeb of a thing in a fight this weekend,” McGregor remarked from Spain.
The 26-year-old Paul has continued to generate both headlines and large audiences during his recent rise up the boxing ranks, posting a 9-1-0 record.
Paul has won his last three fights, including against UFC legend Nate Diaz last August.
However, the 6-foot-1 boxer has received pushback because of fighting few, if any, legitimate boxers.
He had a scheduled bout Saturday against Mike Tyson that had to be postponed to Nov. 15 due to Tyson enduring a health scare, but even then some questioned Paul fighting a 58-year-old.
Paul has offered to oppose McGregor and other more balanced strikers in a switch to MMA, but nothing has formally developed, leading the youngster to decry all participants on the other side of combat sports.
“Every single time, they sit across from me, in these exact same seats, and say, ‘I’m going to take it from you,’” Paul said. “Words of MMA fighters are f—king meaningless. Every single MMA fighter is a f—king p—y, and you can’t box for s–t. When I try to fight y’all in MMA, y’all don’t do it.”
McGregor was slated to make his eagerly anticipated UFC return on June 29 but withdrew due to a broken pinky toe.
On Thursday, he seemed open to the idea of fighting Michael Chandler on Dec. 14.
The Irishman knows a thing or two about boxing, losing by TKO to undefeated Floyd Mayweather in 2017 –– tied for the highest-grossing pay-per-view match ever.
For now, Paul will worry about facing Perry on Saturday, and McGregor will look to step foot in the octagon for the first time in more than three years –– but their beef seems far from resolved.