Jake Paul told he'd give Conor McGregor 'trouble' in an MMA fight

Jake Paul has been backed to 'trouble' UFC superstar Conor McGregor in a potential MMA fight.

'The Problem Child' has relentlessly called for a showdown against the 'Notorious'.

But McGregor has played down a meeting with Paul, who is eager to face the Irishman as he looks to get back to winning ways against Nate Diaz.

Paul, who has linked up with MMA promotion PFL, has now been told he would 'trouble' McGregor if they fought inside a cage.

That's according to Paulie Malignaggi, who has highlighted the American's wrestling background while slamming the 34-year-old's cardio.

"Jake has a high school wrestler background, so he would not be totally out of his element in the cage," he said.

"He'd need to be alert to his kicks, but McGregor (has) absolutely no balls. If you make him just a little bit uncomfortable, you are going to put yourself in a position where you might win the fight.

"You can make him uncomfortable by beating on him, or if he's beating on you, if you just hang in the fight he begins to get nervous and paranoid. He's not a true fighter."

Conor McGregor during his bout against Dustin Poirier. Image: PA

Malignaggi continued to take aim at the former UFC double champion, adding: "He looks for the first window to jump out of. He's got athletic ability but his anxiety levels get high. That's why he gets so tired in fights.

"This guy posts pictures of him running up mountains, swimming 25 miles, bicycling through the desert just to make himself look like he's Rocky during training. And then he gets in the cage and he's tired after 30 seconds.

"He's got no balls. There's no way you can get that tired unless your anxiety levels are through the roof. He gets scared there.

"Jake just needs the ability to hang in there and he can start to trouble him a little. He can put himself in the position to win the fight. I think McGregor's boxing is brutally bad, but at this point, even in MMA, if you hang with him, he will get uncomfortable."

McGregor hasn't fought since his crushing first round defeat to Dustin Poirier back in July 2021 and doesn't appear to be in a position to compete this year.

As for Paul, he's set to return to action against McGregor's former foe Diaz on August 5.

Topics: Jake Paul, Conor McGregor, UFC, Paulie Malignaggi

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

@NasJabbar