Conor McGregor says his next fight will be "historic billion-dollar fight" against Floyd Mayweather
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has a lot to say regarding the future of his fighting career and a potential fight against Floyd Mayweather.
Conor McGregor’s next fight will be against boxing’s pay-per-view kingpin Floyd Mayweather Jr. Well, according to McGregor that is.
McGregor (21-3 MMA, 18 (T)KOs), is coming off of a history-making performance at UFC 205, where fans saw him earn his second UFC title with a violent second round knockout over Eddie Alvarez. This victory made McGregor the first fighter in UFC history to two belts in two separate weight classes at the same time.
However, immediately after earning gold, the Irishman revealed he would be taking time away from the sport to help his longtime girlfriend during her first pregnancy.
Mayweather (49-0 boxing, 26 (T)KOs) has not stepped foot inside a boxing ring since his decision win over Andre Berto in September 2015, earning a disclosed $32 million in the process.
While their two paths have run parallel to each other, a hypothetical boxing match between the two pugilists has continued to pick up steam in the recent months.
While it’s largely been Mayweather and UFC President Dana White doing all the talking on the matter, McGregor finally broke his silence on the possibility of stepping into the boxing ring
“Me and Floyd have got to get together and talk the same way him and Manny [Pacquiao] figured it out,” said McGregor during a recent Q&A in Manchester with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. “Once we come to a number, once we come to a set number that I’m happy with, that he’s happy with, then we go to the customers. Then we go to the promoters, to the buyers, and then we get it done. That’s next. We’ll figure the situation out then go to the dotted line, but this is happening.”
Mayweather previously offered McGregor $15 million to accept the bout, citing his price tag was $100 million. However UFC President Dana White countered this offer and said he was willing to offer Mayweather $25 million, plus pay-per-view revenue.
In typical Mayweather fashion, he scoffed at White’s offer before putting McGregor on blast for demanding more than he was worth.
“I’m happy there was an offer made,” said McGregor. “We’re getting there. We’re moving up. First of all, it was like, ‘It’s going to happen.’ Now there’s an offer on the table. It’s still not there yet. But if Manny and Floyd [made] half a billion, I believe this one, cross sports, never before seen, this is the first billion-dollar fight. People got to pay for a billion-dollar fight.”
McGregor would later reveal the Ali Act would essentially make it so he wouldn’t need the UFC in order to make the Mayweather a fight a reality but would like to keep them in the loop due to the good working relationship between both sides
“I believe I can [make the fight without the UFC], but I think it’s smoother if we’re all involved,” McGregor said. “We’re all about good business. I’ve done great business with the UFC, with Dana, with everyone. I think it’s smoother if everyone gets together to get involved, but then again, everyone has got to know their place. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. There’s Mayweather Promotions, there’s the UFC, and now there’s the newly formed McGregor Promotions, and we’re all in the mix. Nobody is my boss.”
As far as the status UFC career, McGregor said there’s not much that interests him outside of the superfight against Mayweather.
But since UFC 205, McGregor was stripped of the UFC featherweight belt, making him solely the lightweight champion.
But while he understands the UFC was simply making a business decision, McGregor revealed all of the drama surrounding the belts could have been avoided with a simple conversation.
“All they had to do was ask,” said McGregor. “If Dana came to me de said, ‘Hey Conor, I know you’re preparing to have a baby, I know you’re chilling. If you want to fight for this featherweight belt in March,’ I would have went in and I would have slept [Max] Holloway or the guy he was fighting or [Jose] Aldo or whoever they wanted. No problem. All they had to do was ask. Instead they created an interim belt, gave the unified belt back to a guy I KO’d in 13 seconds. A guy I dominated now has the interim title.
“I was almost a little bit embarrassed for the way it was playing out. Is that really how bad it’s gone they need to create all this fake stuff to sell some stuff? It still sold s–t. It still sold nothing…I’m still a two-weight world champion, no doubt about it. At the end of the day, my shadow looms large over all that featherweight division, over all that lightweight division, over the entire UFC. So they can try to fool the fans all they want, but the fans know. They know what’s what.”
Lightweight contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson are scheduled to do battle over interim 155-pound title at UFC 209 in March. While the winner is essentially guaranteed a title unification bout against McGregor, neither man interests McGregor as he’s only concerned with testing his mettle against Mayweather.
“I believe the next time I step into a combat arena, it will be through the ropes with eight-ounce gloves,” McGregor said. “This is historic. Fighting Khabib what-the-fu-k-his-name-is, Tony Donkey, Jose, or even [Tyron] Woodley for the third belt, it’s not this. Sometimes you’ve got to be patient with situations, and I feel this is one of them.”
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