DANA WHITE said Jake Paul is not ‘even remotely close’ to Conor McGregor’s fighting weight.
YouTuber-turned boxer has kickstarted his latest pursuit of facing McGregor after almost two years of callouts.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Jake Paul
Conor McGregor has been called out by Jake Paul
But the American is now even willing to fight his Irish rival in MMA and claimed he would drop from 190lb (13st 5lb) to 175lb (12st 5lb) to do so.
McGregor has never campaigned any higher than welterweight in the UFC – the 170lb (12st 1lb) division White believes Paul is unable to make.
And he questioned why the 5-0 boxer is not challenging bigger men – like 13st 2lb UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, 32.
White told ESPN: “That kid couldn’t even make 170, that’s how big he is. I mean he’s calling out these guys.
“Do you want to see that fight? Then why are you even asking me? Why are we even talking about this?
“They’re not even remotely close to being in the same weight class. Not even remotely close.
“I mean, this kid’s 6’1, 210, Conor McGregor’s 155lb.”
White quipped: “Why isn’t he calling out Israel Adesanya? I know, I know and you know, everybody else knows and he knows, too.”
McGregor, 33, has boxed only once professionally before in a 2017 loss to boxing icon Floyd Mayweather, 44.
Meanwhile Paul is 5-0 as a boxer, with four knockouts since his January 2020 debut.
He has wins over online rival ‘AnEsonGib’, ex-NBA player Nate Robinson, 37, as well as ex-UFC pair Ben Askren, 37, and Tyron Woodley, 39.
Paul first beat Woodley on points in August before winning their rematch four months on by brutal knockout.
He has called out McGregor to fight in both boxing or MMA – but admitted a win in the octagon would be mean that much more.
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Paul told SunSport: “If you took a poll on us boxing, I bet the vast majority would have me beating him.
“And if you took a poll on us in a MMA fight, fans will say Conor is winning that.
“So of course it would be sweeter to knock out his veneers out in MMA.”
