WWE superstar Sheamus has revealed he’d have no problem squaring up against compatriot Conor McGregor but doubts any potential bout between the pair would be allowed.
The UFC interim featherweight champion has endured run-ins with Sheamus previously, telling him on Twitter once before that “you will wake up with no teeth and your nose on my mantle.” But the former WWE heavyweight champion has hit back on Scanlon’s Close Encounters on RTE, per the Irish Sun (h/t Robert Hynes of the Irish Mirror);
He was having a go at WWE in these interviews he was doing. The first couple of times I let it go but then I decided to have a bit of craic and banter with him. If someone’s going to have a crack, that’s fine.
Would I take Conor McGregor? No, he’s a lot shorter than me. I don’t think we’d be allowed fight—a heavyweight and a lightweight.
Would I take him (if I had to)? Absolutely. Course I would. No one could take me. No one’s better than me. I could walk over anyone.
Needless to say the prospect of any fight is hugely unlikely. According to the WWE’s official website, the 2012 Royal Rumble winner weighs 267 pounds; McGregor will have to make a weight of 145 pounds for his upcoming bout with Jose Aldo at UFC 194.
Sheamus has long been one of the most high-profile Irish athletes in combat sports, but McGregor’s remarkable recent rise in the UFC has seen him surpass his compatriot. Indeed, as noted by Hynes’ piece, so flush is the featherweight, he recently bought new cars for his entire family and paid off the mortgage on his parents’ home.
A win over Chad Mendes, who stepped in as a late replacement for the injured Aldo, earlier in the year cemented McGregor’s status as one of the biggest names in the sport. As we can see here courtesy of BT Sport, McGregor is one of the most brutal strikers in the featherweight division:
Although Sheamus is involved in the sports entertainment business, McGregor is not quite as big a hitter as him. So while the back-and-forth chat between the two Irishmen may be entertaining for fans, any talk of the two settling the score inside the ring or the Octagon is fantastical.
It’s encouraging to see two big Irish personalities at the forefront of their sports, and each add their own unique character to their respective disciplines. And despite the recent barbs between the two, you’d like to think they would be in support of the other when their major moments do come around.
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