Conor McGregor aimed a savage dig at Jake Paul ahead of his big fight against Mike Perry.

Paul, who hasn't fought since his win over Ryan Bourland last March, returns to action on Saturday when he faces former UFC fighter Perry.

He was supposed to meet Mike Tyson in a heavyweight clash until the boxing legend fell ill on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles.

The 58-year-old required urgent medical attention, with a new date later this year scheduled for his fight against 'The Problem Child'.

In the meantime, the 27-year-old will take on Perry, who has made a name for himself in Bare Knuckle FC, having beaten the likes of Michael 'Venom' Page as well as former UFC champions Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez.

Mike Perry during his UFC bout against Tim Means. Image: Getty

And ahead of resuming his boxing career against the YouTuber-turned-boxer, McGregor has thrown his support behind 'Platinum'.

In doing so, he fired a shot at Paul, ruthlessly calling him a 'dweeb' at a BKFC press conference in Marbella, Spain.

"Look at what has happened to Michael Perry," he began. "You know, one of our big stars here. The king of violence, he titles himself.

"And, you know, he's had such a rise in the sport. Now he's up against, you know, a little dweeb of a thing in a fight this weekend that we're all rooting for him. But, you know, this is the real deal."

A fight between McGregor and Paul has been mooted for some time now.

Paul has relentlessly called for a showdown against the Irishman, who, of course, is contracted with the UFC.

McGregor's outburst comes after Paul took aim at the UFC superstar for criticising his bout against Tyson.

"There's no reason for them to be jealous. I get that people are jealous, but this is helping the sport of boxing," he said. "Isn't that what people should want to see - getting more kids into the gyms, spanning two generations together, doing it on the biggest scale possible? When the old heads like Conor are still trying to hate, why are you trying to pull people down? Your ego is that (big)."