John Cena Says Conor McGregor Would 'Probably' Beat Him Up in WWE Match

John Cena is a 16-time world champion in WWE, but he admitted he'd be in over his head if he were to cross paths with UFC star Conor McGregor. 

During an interview on Viceland's Desus & Mero, The Cenation Leader discussed the possibility of McGregor making the jump to WWE.

Cena said the Irishman "probably would" defeat him in the ring but expressed excitement about the idea of McGregor wrestling in WWE.

The discussion begins at the 13:58 mark of the video below (warning: video contains profanity):

McGregor famously trolled the WWE roster in August 2016 when he tweeted he could take down anybody in the company:

That tweet, however, only increased speculation the UFC lightweight champion was sowing the seeds for a transition to professional wrestling. Brock Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 after a brief stint in UFC, and Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble.

When pressed on the matter by Entertainment.ie in March (h/t Bloody Elbow's Tim Burke), Cena insisted McGregor would be a natural fit for WWE.

"He would do fantastic. Hell, he would put me out of work," he said. "He gets the entertainment aspect of sport, and I think he gets it as good, or better, than anyone else. The way he promoted the fight against Mayweather—that's what we do. He did it as good, or better, than us."

The Sun's Adam Higgins reported in October that WWE was in talks with McGregor about having him appear at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. The New York Post spoke to a company source who refuted the rumor, and it seems unlikely The Notorious will be at the marquee event Sunday night.

But McGregor sounded open to the idea of joining WWE in February, so it may be only a matter of time before he exchanges the Octagon for the squared circle.