Conor McGregor is looking to make a splash in his return to the fight arena – at least, if you believe him.
McGregor made waves on social media Tuesday morning, sharing on his X account that he's in "preliminary agreements" for a mega-bout with YouTuber-turned-fighter Logan Paul in India sometime in 2025. The former UFC champion hasn't been in a professional fight of any kind since suffering a broken leg in a TKO defeat to Dustin Poirier.
"The rumors of a bout with (UFC featherweight star Ilya) Topurio (sic) are false," the post read. "I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India. I have agreed."
Mukesh Ambani, an Indian businessman, is the patriarch of the country's richest family, with an estimated net worth of $100 billion USD.
A McGregor-Paul bout would generate more than headlines; given how much money last month's Jake Paul-Mike Tyson bout on Netflix generated for both fighters, there's little doubt that McGregor and Logan Paul would be rewarded handsomely. Conor McGregor vs. Logan Paul odds are already popping up for the proposed bout, with both fighters listed at -115.
Not so fast ...
That said, there are still multiple hurdles to clear – and likely a whole lot of warranted skepticism in the fight community, as well.
For starters, we've heard McGregor trumpet a return to in-ring action before – specifically, a plan to fight Michael Chandler that never materialized. And then there's the issue of requiring permission to fight outside the UFC for as long as McGregor remains under contract with the Dana White-led organization.
That's by no means a sure thing. White, who acknowledges that McGregor wants to return to the UFC and will likely do so in 2025, might not want McGregor risking injury in a non-UFC bout.
Still, there's precedent there: White allowed McGregor to box Floyd Mayweather back in 2017, McGregor's only previous boxing match (which resulted in a 10th-round TKO defeat).
Logan silent – but his brother isn't
There hasn't been a response from the Logan Paul camp, either.
Paul, who has a 1-1 record in his two sanctioned boxing matches, laughed off a post-fight challenge from Tyson following the former heavyweight champion's eight-round defeat to Jake Paul in last month's Netflix spectacle, and hasn't been linked to an in-ring return since retiring in November 2023.
Potentially putting further distance between himself and a 2025 McGregor bout, Logan Paul recently stated that he wouldn't be returning to World Wrestling Entertainment, either. When asked about a potential return for Wrestlemania 41, Paul – a former United States Champion with the wrestling promotion – said: "I'm retired. I'm a dad, bro."
Paul has also been in the ring with Mayweather, with the two going eight rounds to a no-decision at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on June 6, 2021.
While Logan has been quiet so far, his brother has not. Jake Paul weighed in on Conor's X message with one of his own later Tuesday:
Now it all makes sense why Conor Mcgregor & his management team have been desperately trying to get MVP to negotiate for a fight between us.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) December 17, 2024
As we told them them privately & I’m now saying it publicly…the only way we’re willing to explore me vs Conor in a pro boxing / mma fight…
Health concerns?
One other possible impediment: McGregor's health issues, which have resulted in multiple setbacks and left the fight community wondering if he'll ever actually return.
In addition to a long recuperation from the broken leg suffered against Poirier, McGregor suffered a foot injury while training for a proposed fight with Chandler, eventually calling that bout off. (More accurately, Chandler grew tired of waiting for McGregor and opted to fight Charles Oliveira instead.
That experience turned off at least one fighter on the idea of facing McGregor: Jorge Masvidal, who told Sportsbook Review he isn't sure McGregor will be back.
"I’d love (to fight him), but I’m not waiting around for him," said Masvidal. "I’m not sitting around for nobody, especially not this drug addict. Let that guy live his f**king life, but he isn’t fighting. I don’t see it in him. I see it in his eyes, he isn’t about the fight life anymore. I don’t see him fighting again, not with his current lifestyle."
Also concerned about McGregor's well-being: Former multi-time boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., who recently told Covers he has different worries for the 36-year-old Dubliner.
"It’s not too early to talk about Conor McGregor and CTE," Jones told Covers. "These guys don’t realize how much trauma they take to the head in practice and in actual fights. Practice counts as much as the actual fight because you’re still taking trauma to the head.
"It’s not too early to talk about CTE when you’ve been taking headshots half your life."
