 "Why Conor McGregor-Logan Paul exhibition boxing match in India was called off? UFC star explains")
After YouTuber-turned boxer Jake Paul's victory over the legendary 'Iron' Mike Tyson by unanimous verdict in Arlington, Texas on 16 November, his brother Logan was scheduled to face Irish MMA star Conor McGregor in an exhibition fight. The high-profile boxing contest was scheduled to take place at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai this year and would have earned an astronomical payday of $250 million.
The rumors of a bout with topurio are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 17, 2024
I have agreed.
I will then seek my return to the Octagon.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight champion McGregor had even confirmed that he was in “preliminary agreements with the Ambani family” for the blockbuster fight and would only make his return to the octagon thereafter. Besides publicising the bout, McGregor had even confronted the Paul brothers in order to build some heat.
Why the McGregor-Paul exhibition fight isn’t going ahead
According to 36-year-old McGregor, whose career has been put on hold due to a leg injury suffered three years ago, revealed that the UFC is behind the cancellation of what would have been the biggest boxing match on Indian soil and among the biggest of all time.
In a 23 January interview with The Schmo, McGregor revealed that the MMA promotion owned by TKO Group Holdings which also owns professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) simply were not interested enough for it to get the green signal.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“It is what it is. The UFC just aren’t into it. The offer was there on the table, in writing. Both athletes will say, ‘He’s not fighting,’ but both (the UFC and WWE) are under the (TKO Group Holdings) banner. UFC and WWE, both rising up. The stock price of TKO Holdings is through the roof. New market in India has opened up and is booming. It was business savvy and business sense to make the fight happen,” McGregor said.
“In between this waiting period that we find ourselves in before I can get back to the Octagon, it made perfect sense on the calendar to go ahead with it. The UFC weren’t into it. The WWE, I’m not sure what their interest in it was,” he added.
McGregor, however, hasn’t given up on the idea just yet due to massive payday involved, and could fight British influencer-turned-boxer KSI, whose exhibition fight against Wayne Bridge was called off after the 44-year-old retired footballer backed out.
“I’m more inclined now for this influencer, f—ing whatever you call it, because it’s astronomical money. It’s astronomical, the figures. Who is there? Jake. Logan. KSI. I like the three of these guys and then all these other ones that are tussling around,” McGregor added.
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