Logan Paul joked he would win a fight against Lionel Messi with ‘both arms tied behind his back’ as he discussed the bout with brother Jake.
The YouTuber-turned-wrestler and football icon are currently seeking legal action against each other over their rival brands, but Paul has said he is willing to drop his lawsuit if Messi joins him in the ring this year.
Back in 2022, Paul and his business partner KSI released their PRIME hydration drink to much fanfare.
Last year, Messi entered the market with his own line of drinks called Mas+, which is packaged very similarly.
There is said to be considerable friction between the two parties, with Messi’s brand firing the first legal shots by suing PRIME last October for ‘anti-competitive’ behavior.
Mas+ alleged in writing that PRIME had tried to pressure them into changing their packaging and in response, PRIME countersued a month later, accusing Messi’s brand of copying their trademarked design.
In a video shared earlier this month, Paul repeated those accusations, before challenging the World Cup winner to a boxing match.
His call out quickly went viral, with nearly two million people watching it on TikTok alone.
Paul has now followed that up by releasing a vlog titled ‘Messi made a big mistake’ – but revealed to his brother Jake that his challenge was a joke.
“Bro, people really think I want to fight Messi, because I made that video,” Logan began.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Of course you want to fight someone retired and smaller than you.’ It was a f***ing joke.”
Jake, though, wasn’t deterred, suggesting any bout would draw a lot of interest.
“It would be a big fight,” he said.
“He copied your whole s***, you’ve got to end him.”
Logan then claimed he would win the fight with ‘both arms tied behind his back,’ before confirming that he made the ‘fake call out’ for attention.
“We don’t fight retired fighters, we fight people our age, who are just as good as us,” he concluded.
While Paul doesn’t expect to step into the ring with Messi anytime soon, he is preparing for a massive WWE match on Saturday night.
He will go toe-to-toe with John Cena, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Damian Priest and Seth Rollins inside the Elimination Chamber.
The winner of that bout will face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41.
Ahead of this weekend’s event, Paul revealed that he has banned himself from performing one of the moves he used to qualify for the chamber.
The 29-year-old used a ‘Moonsault ‘N Battery’ during his match against Rey Mysterio on Raw – a move that saw him pick up his opponent from the middle rope, before flipping backwards with him in his arms.
While it looked spectacular, Paul has since said he is ‘never doing that again’.
