UFC superstar Conor McGregor confirmed Saturday he was in talks with the WWE about appearing at WrestleMania 33 on April 2 in Orlando, Florida.
“Never say never. I know there’s been conversations,” McGregor told Damon Martin of Fox Sports. “I know Triple H was at the show [UFC 205]. I’d love to go to that WWE and have a real knock. Let one of them have a real knock and see what’s what. We’ll see. There’s conversations ongoing. I’ve turned down some things, conversations still ongoing.”
Given McGregor‘s past comments about the WWE—he had some choice words for WWE superstars in August 2016—seeing him appear at WrestleMania would be all the more intriguing:
He wouldn’t be the first UFC fighter—or professional athlete, for that matter—to make an appearance at WrestleMania. Ronda Rousey appeared at the event in 2015. And from Lawrence Taylor and Pete Rose to Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather and Mike Tyson, professional athletes have a long history of showing up at the event.
As for the aforementioned Mayweather, McGregor confirmed that a boxing match against the brash but retired superstar is still in his sights.
“I have my eyes on one thing and that’s Mayweather,” he said during a pay-per-view interview Saturday, per Martin. “That’s the thing I have my eyes on.”
He added: “Me and Floyd have got to get together and talk and figure it out the same way him and Manny [Pacquiao] figured it out. Once we come to a number, once we come to a set number that I’m happy with, that he’s happy with and then we go to the customers. Then we go to the promoters, the buyers and then we get it done. That’s next.
“I’ll go to Vegas, I’ll handle the commission or we’ll figure that situation out and then we’ll come to a dotted line and then we’ll go, but this is happening.”
It increasingly feels as though the next time fighting fans see McGregor it will either be in a wrestling or boxing ring. That may be a disappointment to UFC fans who want to see the 21-3 McGregor continue to defend his lightweight belt (he was also the featherweight champion before “relinquishing” it).
One thing remains a certainty: No matter where McGregor next appears, he continues to be one of the biggest draws in the fighting game.
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