Jake Paul has claimed he is still targeting a fight with Conor McGregor.
The YouTuber faces Ben Askren in his third boxing bout next month, but says the fight is on the road to taking on the Dubliner.
Paul and Askren came face to face at a press conference on Friday and the social media star trolled the former UFC fighter throughout.
He said: “I'm gonna end this guy's career as an embarrassment. Masvidal did it once and I'm gonna do it again.”
But Askren hit back: “2021 seems like a tremendous year to beat up the whole Paul family.
“I’m gonna have fun with this, that’s what I came for. Jake thinks he’s a high level boxer, I think he’s fairly delusional, I guess we’ll find out.”
Paul is confident that a win over Askren will edge him closer to a bout with McGregor.
He concluded: “This is the road to McGregor at the end of the day.”
But the Notorious former two-weight champion previously stated that he has no interest in fighting Paul.
McGregor said: "He seems like a confused little kid to me, to be honest.
“He’s willing to get in there, I don’t know what’ll happen, it’s not on the radar at the minute with the young lad."
McGregor is set to face Dustin Poirier for a third time this summer and Dana White believes the American is 'smart' for taking a fight with the Dubliner over a title shot.
The UFC President said: “Dustin wants the rematch [with Conor McGregor]. That’s smart. That’s what he should do. He should take the rematch, take that fight. It’s a big fight for him.
“Kid’s worked hard his whole life, his whole career to be in a position like this. That’s the fight you take. We’ve been in positions like this before with others who have made the mistake of not taking that fight, and [it was the] biggest mistake of their lives.”
