Conor McGregor defended by UFC legend who hits back at Jake Paul comments following civil trial

Jake Paul has been called out by former UFC star Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who claims the YouTuber-turned-boxer is 'bullying' Conor McGregor.

The Dublin MMA fighter and former two-division champion in the UFC lost a civil assault case last week. The 36-year-old must pay Nikita Hand over €248,000 in damages after a jury in Dublin found that he had assaulted her in a hotel in 2018. Ms. Hand accused McGregor of raping her and later wept as she said justice had been done.

Following the verdict, many of McGregor's boxing and MMA rivals were quick to line up and take pops at him - with Paul eager to have his say on the matter. He said: “Dana hits his wife Conor’s convicted of rape But I’m the bad guy”.

READ MORE:Conor McGregor's statement in full as he mentions mistakes, Dee Devlin and his UFC future

READ MORE: Women take to streets in solidarity with Nikita Hand

Since Paul's latest win inside the ring - a unanimous decision victory over Mike Tyson - many have been quick to challenge the young American, including Jackson - a former MMA star. In a post uploaded to Twitter, he wrote: “Yo @jakepaul watch how you talk to MMA royalty. I’ll fight you in MMA no weight class for no pay. That’s a great deal.. but I bet YOU won’t. Stop disrespecting people in my f***en sport homie. You fighting Tyson was your last straw.. go back to boxing wrestlers.”

He later doubled down on his criticism of Paul and even hit out at 'The Problem Child' for his recent swipe at McGregor on social media. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Jackson said: "After I knock out Rashad [Evans], I'm coming for Jake Paul's neck because I see him trying to bully Conor McGregor so I did a tweet. I'm waiting for him to tweet me back. He's talking about he wants to fight Conor McGregor in MMA and stuff like that.

"I ain't playing around with Jake Paul. Rashad Evans, he can get it first. Even though I'm 46, with BioXcellerator always taking care of me, giving me stem cells - that's why I'm looking so thin, I'm training, getting in shape. BioXcellerator out in Colombia, bro, they changed my life. I think that I will have enough energy to beat the s*** out of Rashad Evans and Jake Paul can come and get in the ring the same night and I'll f*** them both up."

Paul - who is yet to respond to the former UFC star's callout - was criticised for his performance against Tyson after failing to knock the former world champion out. That said, since the showdown in Texas, many within the combat sports community have been quick to call out 'The Problem Child,' including Daniel Dubois.

That said, it appears as if the American's next fight has been confirmed. Social media sensation IShowSpeed has provided an update on a potential boxing clash against the 27-year-old after he called out 'The Problem Child.' "If I have six months, all I need is six months [to train for a fight]. If I have six months of training, I'm beating any monster in this world," said IShowSpeed. "I feel like I can beat Jake Paul in a fight. Look, I respect his work ethic, but when I watch him box, he doesn't look fluent. I feel like I could really get him. When you watch it, you see flaws in his game."

He has recently doubled down on his challenge to Paul, saying: "I will fight Jake Paul in 2025. It will probably be near like GTA 6. I feel like I could be Jake Paul though. We will fight." Paul responded to the YouTuber's initial statement, saying: "Speed knows better. My guy was just playing for sure."

Soon after Speed's initial comments emerged online, Nakisa Bidarian made Speed a life-changing eight-figure offer to get in the ring with Paul. "Cool. Tell him I have $10million for him right now," Bidarian said. "Sign this week. If he beats Jake he gets a $10million bonus. Put your signature where you're clout is."

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