Jake Paul is keeping three UFC names in the crossover fight conversation: Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Ilia Topuria.
In a new Complex News interview, Paul discussed possible fights with all three while making it clear that UFC contracts remain the obvious roadblock. McGregor brings the spectacle, Khabib brings the retired undefeated legend angle, and Topuria is the active UFC champion Paul believes would be easy work under boxing rules.
Paul first addressed Topuria, the current UFC lightweight champion and former featherweight champion. Topuria became the first Georgian and Spanish fighter to win a UFC championship and won the featherweight belt by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 before later moving to lightweight.
Paul said Topuria talking about boxing him is not something he takes seriously.
“Yeah, definitely,” Paul said when asked about Topuria wanting to spar him. “I think a lot of these guys, and I’ve proven it time and time again with the best strikers from MMA, and just beat them pretty easily at an earlier point in my career. And so when they say they can beat me in boxing or whatever this stuff they’re saying is, is like a joke to me.”
Paul said he has tried to get UFC fighters into real sparring situations before, pointing to Paddy Pimblett as an example.
“I finally just want someone to get in there with me,” Paul said. “I tried to send a jet to Paddy Pimblett actually to spar and I was going to give him a million dollars. And then it’s just radio silence and I’m guessing it’ll be the same with Topuria. They have to publicly, when they’re on the live stream, say, ‘I’ll do it right now. Let’s do it.’ And then when it goes to happen, it just doesn’t come to fruition.”
Watch the full interview below:
Paul Says Topuria In Boxing Would Be ‘A Warmup’
Paul gave Topuria credit if the rules changed to MMA, but he did not leave much mystery about how he sees a boxing match.
“We will see,” Paul said. “And I have respect for him, but in a boxing match, like that’s like, that’s like honestly a warmup for me. Like not even like all jokes aside, if we did MMA, he would probably win, but you just have to know the truth.”
Paul continued, “I think these fighters try to boast too much and act like they’re better than they are to the world. But let’s find out the truth. That’s what’s great about the sport.”
When asked about his claim that he would not need headgear to spar Topuria, Paul doubled down and brought up Topuria’s size.
“Yeah, no, it would be like playing with a little toy,” Paul said. “I’m not even kidding. And also he’s like five five, you know. If we were the same weight, he’s a good striker, same height, it would probably be closer. I would still beat him, but he’s like, he can’t even ride roller coasters, you know. Like the guy is tiny.”
A shorter clip of the Topuria section is below:
‼️ Jake Paul says boxing Ilia Topuria would be like a warm-up and playing with a little toy 🥊👀
[Via – @Complex’s YT] pic.twitter.com/mhSMcWNqhR
— IFN (@IfnBoxing) April 28, 2026
Paul then moved to McGregor and Khabib, two names tied together forever by UFC 229.
McGregor is a former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, and the first UFC fighter to hold titles in two divisions at the same time. Khabib submitted McGregor in the fourth round at UFC 229, then later retired unbeaten at 29-0 after a lightweight title reign that ran from April 2018 to March 2021. UFC 229 also drew a record 2.4 million pay-per-view buys for an MMA event.
Paul said an MMA fight with McGregor remains one of the biggest possible fights in the world.
“I’ve always said one of the biggest fights that could happen in the world is me versus McGregor and MMA,” Paul said. “And I’m down.”
The Khabib idea came up after Donald Trump floated Paul vs. Khabib as a fight he would like to see. Paul said he would accept either boxing or MMA.
“Yeah, I think that’s a really good match,” Paul said.
When asked whether he meant boxing or MMA, Paul answered with both.
“I would be down for either one,” Paul said. “You know, I’ve always said one of the biggest fights that could happen in the world is me versus McGregor and MMA. And I’m down, but also me versus Khabib and MMA will be massive. So we need to get Khabib out of retirement.”
Paul did not frame Khabib’s comeback as a simple money play.
“I don’t think it would be about the money for him,” Paul said. “Maybe if it was for like a good cause or something that we could do together, that could be interesting.”
When the interviewer joked about building a village in Dagestan, Paul answered, “I’m down. I’ll build it myself.”
McGregor has not competed since 2021, Khabib remains retired at 29-0, and Topuria is tied to the UFC lightweight title picture. Paul’s callouts remain hypothetical unless contracts, rulesets, and schedules line up.
