Jake Paul tipped the scales at 186lb last night ahead of his fight with Anderson Silva, making him lighter than Conor McGregor, who claims to have bulked to over 190lb.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul has been angling for a fight with McGregor over the past two years since his viral knockout win over Nate Robinson, but a critique of the plan is that there is a massive gap in weight between the pair, reports The Mirror. Nay-sayers have dismissed Paul's wins over former welterweight champions Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren as being due to size.
And with McGregor shorter than both and having fought as light as 145lb during his prime, UFC President Dana White was keen to dismiss the possibility of the pair meeting in an interview earlier this year. He appeared on Jake's older brother Logan's podcast Impaulsive when the topic was brought up, but the MMA boss wasn't keen to pursue the fight.
READ MORE: Jake Paul criticises 'selfish' Conor McGregor for not using platform to increase fighter pay
"I'm never completely closed off to anything," White told co-host Mike Majlak after joking that McGregor vs Paul was "probably not" on the cards. "I used to say that about things but I don't say that any more because you never know what could happen - I don't hate the kid.
"He came out yesterday and said 'now that you love me,' and I thought 'I never said I love you, I said I didn't hate you,' there's a big difference.
"Listen, he's a young kid out there trying to make some money and I don't fault anyone for that... It's not like I don't try to do these things; the Floyd vs Conor fight.
"The fans wanted to see it, everybody wanted to see it and that fight took on a life of it's own so Floyd and I got together and figured it out, it made sense and we did it.
"He shouldn't even be fighting Conor McGregor, these guys are f***ing huge. The brothers are huge, what's he 6'1"? 210lb? Conor McGregor is 145lb or 155lb. What did Floyd figure out [when he fought Logan Paul]? [Logan was] so big and figured out how to tie him up.
"There's weight classes for a reason. Do you think he could make 170? It's a stretch for Conor to fight at 170, he fought Nate at 170 and that ain't his weight class, not even close!"
But McGregor has considerably bulked up these days, and has joked that he is so big that he has to walk "sideways through doors". And when Mirror Fighting asked him about fighting the younger Paul brother in his comeback fight back in February, McGregor responded that he would "never say never" after years of disregarding the siblings.
Paul has called for massive fights with a number of major boxers, including Canelo Alvarez, and believes that 175lb is the weight where he will eventually compete for titles. McGregor expects to fight at MMA welterweight, which is 170lb, when he returns to the octagon next year.
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