Jake Paul has defended Conor McGregor, criticising the UFC for not getting him back in the ring. Despite hopes of a December return and a potential comeback at UFC 300 on April 13, fans are still waiting to see if the former two-weight UFC champion will fight again.
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McGregor has been out of action for almost three years after suffering a broken leg in his defeat to Dustin Poirier, but fans' hopes were raised that the Dubliner would soon be back in the octagon when he featured as a coach on the 2023 series of The Ultimate Fighter.
But McGregor's wait to make his UFC comeback goes on despite his demand to UFC CEO Dana White to give him a fight date to prepare for. And McGregor has found an unlikely ally in influencer-turned-boxer Paul. McGregor announced his intention to fight on June 29 on social media, but White dismissed this idea. Now Paul, who has previously clashed with McGregor online, is supporting him, comparing his treatment to that of Nate Diaz.
Diaz last fought in the UFC in 2022, when he defeated Tony Ferguson. However, he did not get another fight booked before his contract expired and eventually lost to Paul in a boxing match. Paul believes that UFC is treating McGregor the same way.
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Paul stated on social media: "They are trying to do Conor like they did Nate. Biggest star in the history of the sport and he can't control when he fights." He has criticised UFC in the past too for not giving its fighters other opportunities outside of the promotion.
As for McGregor's comeback, White still remains tight-lipped. However, on "The Pat McAfee Show" he confirmed that Chandler remains the planned opponent. "Eventually," said White about McGregor's comeback. "Hopefully this year. There is no date. I'm hoping for the fall. [Hopefully] we get it done in the fall."
McGregor hasn't stepped into the ring since his trilogy fight with Poirier. In the past seven years, he's had only one MMA win, which came against Donald Cerrone in 2020, either side of defeats to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Poirier. Currently, he's filming with Jake Gyllenhaal for the reboot of the movie "Road House".
This article was crafted with the help of AI tools, which speed up the Daily Express editorial research. A Daily Express editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors here
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