Jake Paul would knock out Conor McGregor, Khabib’s manager claims

YouTube star is hoping to lure McGregor into another lucrative crossover boxing bout

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, believes that YouTuber Jake Paul would “beat the s***” out of Conor McGregor if the pair face one another in a boxing bout.

Paul, who knocked out former UFC star Ben Askren in his latest fight, has referred to his venture into professional boxing as the road to McGregor and hopes to agree a money-spinning bout worth as much as $100m.

McGregor, who returns to the Octagon in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier in July, has shown little interest in making the fight as Paul continues to target other names in the UFC.

Nurmagomedov retired as one of the greatest UFC fighters in history after defeating Justin Gaethje last October, with his victory over McGregor in 2018 settling their long-running feud.

Asked about the possibility of Paul facing McGregor, Abdelaziz said: “Jake Paul, I like this kid. You know why? Because he is real. When he talked about Conor’s wife, [Paul] said [McGregor] talked about Khabib’s wife. I like Jake Paul.

“I think he’ll beat the s*** out of Conor, Conor’s teammates, all these guys. I like his brother too. Logan Paul, I like these kids, they make something from nothing. Even Mike Tyson likes these kids. Mike is my friend.”

In a recent interview, Paul told The Sun why he is confident will defeat McGregor if the fight is made.

“First and foremost I’m a better athlete than McGregor,” he said. “He never played football, he never played lacrosse, he never wrestled, he was never an All-State football player.

“I’m taller by four inches or so and I’m about 60-pounds, 50-pounds heavier without a weight cut - and that’s what a lot of people don’t understand when I’m hitting these guys; I’ve got knockout power because I’m cutting down from 210lbs.

“The other side of this is him underestimating me. He’s going to come into this, be chilling on his yachts, be babysitting his three little kids, be going out to dinners with his wife, playing in the beach in the sand thinking Jake Paul’s a walk in the park, when I’m going to be hustling every single day to beat this guy.”