Stephen A. Smith: Conor McGregor ‘would get his ass kicked thoroughly’ if he returned to UFC right now

Stephen A. Smith likes the idea of Conor McGregor boxing Logan Paul over a return to the UFC, although Smith believes McGregor would lose either way.

On Tuesday, McGregor says he accepted an exhibition bout with Logan Paul in India and the fight is being worked on, then he would focus on a return to the octagon. As of now, nothing official in regards to the validity of McGregor’s claims, but it was enough for the UFC’s broadcast partner to react to the news.

Smith, one of the faces of the network, says the biggest reason he would support McGregor boxing the WWE star is because it wouldn’t be a full-on MMA fight.

“I don’t think he’s ready to be back in the UFC, I think he would get his ass kicked thoroughly,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take. “These fighters are elite, they take this very seriously, and their definition of being in shape and ready to fight isn’t bloating themselves up with muscles and looking good in the mirror. These brothers are ready to throw down. ...

“Michael Chandler has been calling him out forever. [He] desperately, desperately wants to get his hands on Conor McGregor because he knows it would be a big fight, obviously, and that’s something that he wants, and that hasn’t happened yet. We haven’t seen Conor McGregor win a fight — I mean, he beat Donald Cerrone, but Cerrone looked like a deer in headlights as I pointed out that night — [but] that’s the only victory he’s had in seven years.”

Smith believes McGregor vs. Paul makes sense because it would be simply for entertainment purposes only, and Paul, while athletic and possessing some boxing skill, is not treating boxing as seriously as his brother Jake Paul.

But if this fight happens, Smith is leaning towards Paul as the favorite for multiple reasons.

“I think Logan Paul is going to beat him,” Smith said. “I don’t think Conor is a boxer, he’s a striker. ... You ain’t clipping Logan Paul like that. No, you have to do more than that. ...

“I just think that Logan Paul is bigger. He’s a much bigger man, he’s a more experienced boxer.

“Those big muscles [of McGregor] are going to make you a big slower. You’ve got to remember that Conor had quickness. He could catch you quick and clip you. That’s not going to be the case in the boxing ring.”