Ho-hum, Floyd Mayweather arguing with somebody else through social media. What else is new? For the second time in a year, Floyd is verbally sparing with a UFC fighter, this time taking dead aim at newly crowned featherweight champ Conor McGregor. On January 5th, Mayweather implied that Conor’s popularity (and to a lesser extent Ronda Rousey) had more to do with the color of their skin and not their actual performance in the octagon.
Specifically on McGregor:
And what’s so crazy, I don’t really know the McGregor guy; never seen him fight. … They say he talk a lot of trash and people praise him for it, but when I did it, they say I’m cocky and arrogant. So biased! Like I said before, all I’m saying is this, I ain’t racist at all, but I’m telling you racism still exists.
If you’re a fan of arguments based on pure ignorance, Floyd is your man. “I’ve never seen him fight but he totally doesn’t deserve it guys!” Okey-dokey then.
And of course, it was only a matter of time before McGregor responded because guys like McGregor don’t take this kind of criticism laying down. Here’s a brief excerpt of a lengthy diatribe on Instagram.
4. Floyd Mayweather, don’t ever bring race into my success again. I am an Irishman. My people have been oppressed our entire existence. And still very much are. I understand the feeling of prejudice. It is a feeling that is deep in my blood.
In my family’s long history of warfare there was a time where just having the name ‘McGregor’ was punishable by death.
Do not ever put me in a bracket like this again.
If you want we can organise a fight no problem.
I will give you a fair 80/20 split purse in my favour seen as your last fight bombed at every area of revenue.At 27 years of age I now hold the key to this game.
The game answers to me now.
Yep, fair to say that Conor took that whole thing very personally (as was his right). Floyd’s nonsense clearly rubbed him the wrong way. These two will never fight (sadly) but let me be the first to say I’d pay a whole lot of money to see it.
