Conor McGregor appears to have endorsed a new report that his rumored boxing showdown with Logan Paul will take place in Mumbai, India next year and be worth a staggering $250 million EACH for the two superstars.
The fightbookmma.com site announced the news yesterday, and McGregor himself has since reposted it on his X account alongside emoji’s of an Indian flag and a heart, suggesting the details may well be accurate.
The report confirms a previous claim that the deal would be financed by India’s billionaire Ambani family. They are believed to have viewed the fight as an opportunity to boost tourism in the region by making India a leading destination for major combat sporting events, as has been the case with Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia.
And it seems that no expense is being spared on securing the two stars for the event, with both McGregor and Paul said to be banking an astonishing $250 million each for the fight, which would take place at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai – a setting that normally serves as an iconic cricket ground.
As a frame of reference, Floyd Mayweather reportedly banked a guaranteed $100 million for his boxing match with McGregor back in 2017. That fight then went on to become the 2nd biggest pay-per-view in boxing history with 4.3 million buys, leading to Mayweather reportedly coming close to tripling his earnings, while McGregor also earned north of $100 million.
Back then McGregor was still a UFC champion in his prime though, while since the loss to Mayweather he’s only fought four times in the UFC and lost three of them, suffered a broken leg in his last Octagon appearance and hasn’t fought in over three-and-a-half years.
And that’s not to mention the fact that he’s only recently lost a civil case in Ireland in which he was accused of raping a woman several years ago, which has further tarnished his reputation.
Meanwhile, Logan Paul is a famous YouTuber and WWE star who hasn’t had the same level of success as his brother Jake in the boxing ring, losing his first pro-bout to fellow YouTube star KSI in 2019, before beating Dillon Danis by disqualifiction last year.
Paul does have something in common with McGregor though in that he also fought Mayweather in the ring, although that was an exhibition bout, so it wasn’t officially scored after going the distance.
So, in terms of a combat sports spectacle, McGregor vs. Paul doesn’t hold as much as interest as Mayweather vs. McGregor did, but then again Jake Paul vs. a 58-year-old Mike Tyson this year looked like a farce on paper to anybody who follows the sport, and indeed turned out to be a terrible fight, but yet peaked with a record-breaking 65 million concurrent live streams on Netflix.
Despite all the talk it’s worth noting that this fight is not official yet, and in order to do so it would require the approval of the UFC, due to McGregor still being under exclusive contract with them.
However, there has been some suggestion that the UFC could be on-board with the idea, and the fact that their owners Endeavor also own WWE may enable the deal to go through more smoothly.
Dana White had indicated after the final UFC event of the year that there was something major in the works for 2025 that had only recently become a possibility, but it remains to be seen if this was what he was referring to.
