According to UK tabloid The Sun, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather may be preparing to announce an MMA vs boxing superfight against each other. McGregor is currently feuding with the UFC over his removal from their UFC 200 megacard. Mayweather has been retired from boxing since September 2015 after defeating Andre Berto, bringing his record to a conspicuous 49-0.
The general opinion of those in the know behind the scene is that this is a completely false story and ridiculous on its face, but it’s worth noting that Conor McGregor has called out Floyd Mayweather a couple of times in the past and said he was “open to discussions” as recently as March. His issues with the UFC began in April, when the fighter refused to leave the start of his training camp in Iceland to join a promotional tour. The UFC removed him from UFC 200, he threatened to retire, and the two have been in a silent stand-off since then.
There’s a number of very significant challenges to make this fight happen as well. First off, McGregor has a contract with the UFC, and it’s a very restrictive contract indeed. It certainly won’t allow the MMA fighter to compete in another combat sport without the UFC’s approval, and the UFC wasn’t even willing to give Conor approval to miss a single press conference in April. The chances they would sign off on this fight are close to nil.
And then there’s the issue of payment. The Sun is reporting that this rumored Mayweather vs. McGregor fight will go down with Floyd making 100 million euros and Conor making 7 million euros. There’s no way Conor would agree to that. His last fight with Nate Diaz was rumored to have broken the 2 million pay-per-view buy mark. Mayweather’s fight with Andre Berto didn’t even crack 500,000 buys.
So there’s some details that really don’t add up on this fight rumor. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Conor McGregor over the past month, it’s to expect the unexpected. Maybe he is trying to set up a crazy superfight with Floyd Mayweather. In Russia, where the UFC would have a harder time stopping him, and for a 50/50 split, because he’s just as much of a draw as Mayweather. Who knows, it’s possible. Not likely, but possible.
(Via The Sun)
