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Fresh off the announcement that Paulie Malignaggi will return to fighting by signing a deal with Bare Knuckle FC, the former boxing champion took to Twitter to call out his nemesis — Conor McGregor.
Conor the coward @TheNotoriousMMA with 2 minute rounds I'm sure even YOU can't quit at this! Time to settle it.l @bareknucklefc
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) March 7, 2019
Malignaggi and McGregor have had a bitter feud since Malignaggi joined McGregor’s training camp as a sparring partner for his 2017 fight against Floyd Mayweather. McGregor and his promoter would leak footage that would make it seem like he beat the brakes off Malignaggi in sparring — something Malignaggi has consistently denied — but that sparked off a war of words that has lingered to this day.
It’s now been two full years since Malignaggi last fought professionally, getting knocked out by Sam Eggington, but says that the craft of a professional boxer competing in a bare knuckle fight gives him the edge over any MMA fighter out there.
I’m sure there will be those who would like to take him up on the offer, but it will be curious to see if McGregor will be willing to take the bait...