Jake Paul has been backed to sign for the UFC and land a "money" fight with Conor McGregor in the next two years.
The YouTube star has frequently called out McGregor to a boxing clash throughout his five-fight professional career, which includes crossover victories over Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren. He recently offered UFC kingpin Dana White a one-fight deal to face McGregor in the octagon providing a review over fighter pay is conducted if he wins.
Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub believes that the UFC should play ball with Paul's demands to sign with the promotion. “If I’m the UFC, hey man, this is happening regardless, why not get a piece of the pie?," Schaub said on the latest episode of The Schaub Show.
"Why not get involved in this piece of the pie? That pie is getting made whether it’s in a year from now or two years, that pie is in the oven dude,” Schaub said about a fight Jake and Conor.
“I don’t know what the hesitation is. I would say that Jake Paul is more suited to compete in the UFC than f****** CM Punk. He has professional fights. Again, UFC, Conor is going to make all the money in the world, Jake is going to make all the money in the world. It's happening, play ball with this kid. I know you don’t like him or whatever, but play ball with him.”
Paul has previous background in wrestling and has been training in MMA as he plans to try and make a switch across to the UFC in the future. McGregor is currently out of action after breaking his leg last year but has piled on weight to around 190lbs which would bridge a significant size gap between the pair.
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He came out to publicly criticise McGregor's recent training footage after the star made a return to boxing training. McGregor finally hit back at the YouTube star by branding him a "jack***" on a social media video. McGregor is eyeing a return to the title scene at 170lbs and wants to face Kamaru Usman upon his return, which would see a significant delay in any fight being made.
UFC star Anthony Smith believes McGregor would "barbecue" Paul if the pair staged a showdown in the cage. “First of all, Conor’s half his size right now,” Smith told MMA Fighting.
“People do miss that. Jake’s a big dude and he’s fighting short, stocky, wrestler welterweights. Him fighting Conor in a boxing match, that would probably be a pretty good fight, to be honest with you. But is he going to knock him out in an MMA fight? No.
Not when Conor gets kicking — he’s going to kick Jake Paul’s head right off his shoulders. People say that Jake can wrestle a little bit so [he] might be able to keep it a little bit competitive for a minute or so. But no, in an MMA fight, he’s going to get barbecued.”
