Paulie Malignaggi on McGregor: ‘My biggest problem is his arrogance’

Former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi discusses why he left Conor McGregor’s camp and opens up about his biggest issues with the UFC champion.

Despite some early bad blood between Paulie Malignaggi and UFC champion Conor McGregor, the two appeared to bury the hatchet and Malignaggi was brought in to help McGregor in preparation for his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.

Last week, though, the relationship went sour after photos were posted online that irked Malignaggi to the point that he decided to leave McGregor’s camp. Since he has left the camp, Malignaggi has taken to social media on many occasions to set the record straight on what went down between the two and not what pictures appear to make it look like.

Most recently, Malignaggi took to Twitter and stated that McGregor “whimpers like a girl” when he takes body shots, and on Sunday night, Malignaggi spoke in detail about his reason for leaving McGregor’s camp. Making an appearance on FOX 5 in his home of New York, Malignaggi said the photo leaked online that looked like a knockdown was actually a shove that put Malignaggi down, and McGregor shoved him because “he was getting beat up that day.”

An unwritten rule in combat sports is what happens in the gym stays in the gym, and Malignaggi feels that rule was broken when the pictures were leaked, saying, “I wouldn’t have gone around talking about beating him [McGregor] up, if I didn’t have to”.

Malignaggi did compliment McGregor saying he knows how to fight because he’s a mixed martial arts champion but when it comes to boxing, his arrogance gets in the way.

“My problem with Conor is his arrogance, his arrogance is to the point where he can’t make progress, he can’t learn. He just wants a bunch of yes-men around him, he doesn’t want to be told he’s doing something wrong”.

Although Malignaggi is friends with Floyd Mayweather, he said he has not talked to Floyd about the falling out and he doesn’t plan to. As far as a breakdown of the fight between Mayweather and McGregor, Malignaggi says he won’t talk about strengths and weaknesses from McGregor until he’s on the broadcast for fight night.

The full interview between Malignaggi and FOX 5 New York can be watched below.

Mayweather vs McGregor takes place on Saturday, Aug. 26, at the T-Mobile Arena on Showtime PPV.