While uncertainty surrounds his return to the Octagon, it seems that UFC star Conor McGregor is eyeing an opportunity inside the ring instead.
McGregor hasn't competed in any form of the fight game since UFC 264 in July 2021, where his main event trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier came to a shocking conclusion at the end of round one when the Irishman suffered a gruesome broken leg.
After a lengthy period of recovery on the sidelines, the Irishman had his return to action announced toward the start of 2023, as he was penciled in to face opposition TUF coach Michael Chandler. That is still yet to come to fruition, however, with multiple rumored and one official fight date falling through across the past two calendar years.
While that's left some doubting that "The Notorious" will make the walk again — a sentiment that only gained traction after he was found liable for assault in a civil case last month after being accused of rape — McGregor has continued to dismiss those claims and set his sights on a 2025 comeback.
But in the new year, the UFC might not be his first port of call...
The Dublin native took to social media this week, first to dismiss rumors of an Ilia Topuria fight inside the Octagon. And in the same post, McGregor suddenly announced that an exhibition boxing match with YouTuber-turned-pugilist and professional wrestler Logan Paul is in the works.
He also named a location, claiming the Ambani family is looking to put the bout together for an event in India. The Ambani family topped the 2017 Forbes list of Asia's richest families with a net worth of $44.8 billion.
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"The rumors of a bout with topurio (Ilia Topuria) are false. I am in preliminary agreements with the Ambani family to face Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition in India," McGregor wrote on X. "I have agreed. I will then seek my return to the Octagon."
Paul, like his younger brother Jake, has experience in the exhibition and crossover boxing game. The 29-year-old battled fellow online star KSI twice as YouTube boxing began to rise to prominence over five years ago.
Since then, "The Maverick" has fought a shared opponent with McGregor in Floyd Mayweather. After going the distance in their exhibition, Paul returned to the ring last October to defeat Dillon Danis in a professional affair before turning his attention to a pro wrestling career in the WWE.
McGregor, meanwhile, has not appeared in the ring since being stopped by Mayweather in their lucrative 2017 crossover clash, which marked "Money's" 50th and final professional victory.