Jake Paul offers theory why the UFC hasn’t booked Conor McGregor’s return: “He has two fights left on his deal…”
Jake Paul believes that the UFC is holding back Conor McGregor from competing.
‘The Notorious’ hasn’t competed since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in their July 2021 trilogy bout. Conor McGregor then spent the better part of two years trying to heal, and book his return. As some fans likely recall, the former UFC champion repeatedly called for the chance to fight in 2023, and early 2024.
Eventually, Conor McGregor’s return was booked opposite Michael Chandler for UFC 303 in June. However, that bout didn’t end up happening. Due to injury, the Irishman was forced out of the fight. Since then, McGregor has repeatedly called to fight in December, but Dana White hasn’t seemed interested.
Instead, the promoter has shown interest in postponing Conor McGregor’s return to 2024. Well, it seems that Jake Paul has a theory as to why the UFC star’s comeback keeps getting pushed back. Speaking on an edition of his podcast alongside Francis Ngannou, ‘The Problem Child’ specifically discussed McGregor’s contract.
Jake Paul on why Conor McGregor is not fighting.pic.twitter.com/8n6IcI4fKS
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) September 5, 2024
Jake Paul offers a theory on why Conor McGregor’s UFC return has been postponed
Jake Paul opined that the UFC was keeping Conor McGregor under contract, to help them with streaming rights negotiations. ‘The Notorious’ has been upfront about the fact that he only has two more bouts on his current contract. While McGregor has shown interest in testing free agency, Paul believes the company doesn’t want to let that happen for a while.
“Conor has two fights left on his fight deal, but the UFC is trying to renew their rights deal.” Jake Paul stated during the discussion. “They license their content, which are the fights, to platforms. So they’re trying to renew their deal, and they’re negotiating with multiple people. But, let’s say they’re going with ESPN. They’re trying to renew the deal and get the most amount of money, a part of that negotiation is, ‘Hey, we have Conor McGregor for two more fights’.”
He continued, “But, if he were to fight now, that wouldn’t be part of the negotiation. ‘Oh we only have Conor for one fight’. So, that’s why Conor isn’t fighting now, and this is what they do to the fighters… Each contract is different, but you don’t want to win, because you’re locked in for more three more fights. They also have all these [contract] triggers… You’re owned across the board.”
What do you make of these comments about Conor McGregor and the UFC? Do you agree with Jake Paul?
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
Topics:
Conor McGregor Jake Paul UFC
