Furious Paulie Malignaggi Quits Conor McGregor's Training Camp

Paulie Malignaggi has quit Conor McGregor's training camp after pictures were released of the pair's sparring sessions, this week.

The former IBF Junior Welterweight and WBA Welterweight champion had been drafted in to help McGregor train for his upcoming bout with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas on 26th August, but has posted a statement this morning explaining that he has decided to leave the Irishman's camp after just two sessions.

Earlier this week, pictures surfaced online of McGregor apparently putting Malignaggi on the canvas, along with a couple of shots of the 36-year-old taking some stiff looking shots from the two-weight UFC Champion. Malignaggi dismissed the shot of of him on the mat as a 'pushdown' rather than a knockout shot from Notorious.

While Malignaggi's face has appeared visibly marked in several photos, the Bensonhurst, Brooklyn native has taken exception to the leaking of the photos, which he claims are being released to exploit him.

Following this series of tweets, Malignaggi then released an official statement declaring that he was leaving McGregor's camp for good, demanding that the unedited footage of the pair's sparring sessions was released.

Malignaggi had already expressed his displeasure at the way UFC were conducting the sessions, telling ESPN, "I went in there to prove a point. I didn't like the fact I had to fly across the country on Monday, and they have me scheduled for 12 [rounds] on Tuesday. I thought it was a little bit of a setup.

"Usually all sparring is private. I show up at the UFC headquarters and [former owner, Lorenzo] Fertitta is there. [UFC president] Dana White is there. So, I'm thinking these guys are thinking they'll catch me right off the flight, set me up for him to look good in front of his audience. I didn't like that. I kind of went in with a chip on my shoulder."

While it's unlikely the McGregor camp will release the footage, we only have 22 days left to find out just how effective a boxer the Irishman is when he steps into the ring with Floyd Mayweather at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Paulie Malignaggi, Boxing, UFC, MMA

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

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