Jake Paul takes aim at McGregor in latest UFC Twitter tirade

Jake Paul, the YouTuber turned legitimate boxing pay-per-view draw, has again taken aim at Dana White and the UFC and has called for a bout in the Octagon against Conor McGregor – but he says any such money-spinning bout can only come if promotion president White agrees to his demands over fighter pay and healthcare.

Paul has been a frequent critic of White amid a growing debate about fighter pay within the UFC ranks which has seen him involved in high-profile disputes with the likes of two-time light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and current heavyweight king Francis Ngannou – with the Cameroonian tipped to walk away from the UFC later this year to pursue more bountiful paydays in the boxing ring. 

And doubling-down on his unlikely role as the most vocal proponent of increased pay for UFC fighters, Paul has once again issued a very public proposal to White and his biggest star.

"Dana: since you like me now, how about a one-fight UFC deal to fight Conor?" Paul wrote on Twitter.

"If I win, you agree to my UFC fighter pay and healthcare proposal.

"If I lose, I donate my entire purse to all UFC fighters who make less than $50,000 a fight and never mention UFC again.

"Deal?"

Paul's Twitter blast comes after he criticized McGregor's boxing technique in a video posted by the Irishman to social media which showed him hitting pads as he continues his recovery from a badly broken leg suffered in his defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.

The novice boxer wrote that he would "KO Conor in boxing or MMA" and that he boasts a "Right hand of God" – prompting a riposte from McGregor in which he described the former Disney star as a "jackass". 

It is the latest verbal jab aimed by Paul at White and comes after he pilloried the UFC boss in January after White openly bragged about the success of the company's business model.

"I'm the only person that doesn't need you and I don't give a f*ck about you," Paul wrote online to White.

"But all these people, all your fighters, all of them, they can't say sh*t cause you'll just bench them.

"You met your maker – I'm not going to stop. Welcome to the show, ladies and gentlemen.

"The bottom line, Dana, is that you won't add healthcare for your fighters because you don't give a f*ck about them and you're too much of a greedy b*tch to pay your minimum fighter more than $12,000 for risking their lives.

"It's what a janitor makes. You need to pay them $50,000, Dana. Stop avoiding my points."

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The 25-year-old Paul remains undefeated in the boxing ring but has been criticized for not yet facing a credible fighter in his still developing career.

Three of his wins have come against ex-UFC fighters – once against Ben Askren and twice against Tyron Woodley, beating the former UFC welterweight champion by a vicious knockout in their second fight in December.

Both Askren and Woodley stated that they made career-high paydays in their fights against Paul and significantly more than any one single UFC fight.

McGregor was involved in the second-most lucrative boxing match of all time when he fought American legend Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.

The event in Las Vegas is said to have amassed a total of around $864 million.

Two-weight UFC champion McGregor had also been set to fight Manny Pacquiao – the man who met Mayweather in the only boxing bout to gross more than that sum.

Warning: video contains swearing

His initial defeat to Poirier at UFC 257 in January 2021 appeared to scupper the showdown with the Filipino great.

White has not yet responded to Paul's latest challenge – but has repeatedly dismissed suggestions that he might allow McGregor special dispensation to face Paul in a boxing match.

But if Paul is agreeable to signing up with the UFC, White might just prove that age-old combat sports adage; if it makes dollars, it make sense.