In order to properly hype the megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor, promoters have called up the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment.
The Rock announced on Instagram on Saturday he’ll provide the voice-over prior to Satur…
In order to properly hype the megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor, promoters have called up the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment.
The Rock announced on Instagram on Saturday he’ll provide the voice-over prior to Saturday’s main event in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena:
While the eight-time WWE champion wished both fighters luck, he had words of praise for McGregor.
“I connected with my boy Conor this week. His intentions go far beyond his extraordinary skill,” The Rock wrote below his Instagram photo. “Like Mayweather, not only does he want to put on an epic performance for the world, but there’s a real visceral, raw, warrior mana (spirit) that he has in his blood.”
It’s hard to think of a better choice to help build anticipation for Mayweather vs. McGregor than The Rock. He’s a natural showman who’s well-acquainted with delivering a great promo, dating back to his days as a professional wrestler.
Saturday’s fight promises to be one of the most lucrative of all time. ESPN.com’sDan Rafaelreported Mayweather will make at least $100 million from his fight purse, while McGregor will take home a minimum of $30 million. Both of those figures will rise when pay-per-view and gate revenues are factored in.
There’s little doubt Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor’s fight Saturday will be one of the most lucrative in boxing history. The question is whether it becomes the sport’s richest event ever.
The wait is nearly over, with Mayweather vs. McGregor …
There’s little doubt Floyd Mayweather Jr. and ConorMcGregor‘s fight Saturday will be one of the most lucrative in boxing history. The question is whether it becomes the sport’s richest event ever.
The wait is nearly over, with Mayweather vs. McGregor a little over a day away. The two fighters are already in Las Vegas for Friday’s weigh-in, which is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET.
Financially, Mayweather’s victory over Manny Pacquiao in May 2015 set the gold standard in boxing.
According to CNN’s Chris Isidore, the fight earned roughly $500 million in total revenue between ticket and pay-per-view sales. ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported Mayweather earned between $220 million and $230 million for his fight purse, while Pacquiao took home a little more than $150 million—before Top Rank and Top Rank president Bob Arum took their respective cuts of Pacquiao’s purse.
TMZSportsshared a clip from Showtime’s All Access: Mayweather vs.McGregorseries in which Mayweather said he expects to make $300 million from Saturday’s event.
TheIndependent’sLuke Brownwrote Mayweather may earn 70 to 75 percent of the fight purse withMcGregor. Isidore reported Mayweather received 60 percent of the fight purse against Pacquiao.
In terms of pay-per-view revenue, topping Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will be difficult to beat. Isidore reported 4.4 million households purchased the PPV. Mayweather vs. McGregor will need to surpass that figure in order to earn more money since the two events both charged $89.95 for the standard feed and $99.95 for the high-definition feed.
Mayweather and McGregor do, however, have the venue working in their favor. Rather than MGM Grand Garden Arena, where Mayweather fought his last 12 fights, Saturday’s bout is in the T-Mobile Arena.
The Los Angeles Times‘ Lance Pugmire wrote in June that the T-Mobile Arena can seat 4,000 more people than the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which creates the possibility of higher gate revenue.
The strategy may also prove counterproductive in that it could further emphasize fans aren’t as excited for the prospect of Mayweather vs. McGregor as they were for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, the latter of which had already come a few years too late to truly mean anything.
Pugmire reported Aug. 7 as many as 10,000 tickets—3,000 from the general sale and 7,000 from the secondary market—were still available for Saturday’s fight.
The promotional tour that was supposed to talk fans into either purchasing Mayweather vs. McGregor on PPV or paying for a ticket may have backfired somewhat as well.
Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter wrote a critique of the third stop on the world tour in Brooklyn, New York:
“The Brooklyn variation? It was more like Mayweather and McGregor setting all of that money on fire, then dumping the still-hot embers back on the rest of us.
“Yes, it was that bad. In every way imaginable. It is bad enough that Mayweather’s new idea of fight promotion consists of cursing and a whole lot of nothing else. It is bad enough that the whole thing started two hours late, leaving thousands of waiting fans irate.”
That’s along with the fact McGregor is a 13-4 underdog, according to OddsShark. Pacquiao, in comparison, was an 8-5 underdog, per OddsShark.
McGregor is approaching his first professional boxing bout against one of the best defensive boxers of all time.
And it would be one thing if fans could count on a knockout or quick stoppage, such as Mike Tyson or Ronda Rousey fighting in their respective primes. At their peaks, Tyson and Rousey guaranteed excitement, even if their fights only lasted a matter of minutes.
Mayweather, on the other hand, is very methodical and cares little for spectacle in the ring. It’s easy envisioning him running circles around McGregor and landing enough blows to impress the judges. While that would be a winning strategy, it’d offer little in the way of entertainment—one of the biggest criticisms from Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.
Mayweather vs. McGregor may be a unique fight, but star power alone may not be enough for the event to match the revenue generated by Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. The perceived gulf in class between the two fighters may wind up turning some fans away, thereby costing Mayweather and McGregor money.
According to Brown, Mayweather andMcGregorsigned a confidentiality agreement as part of their contract, which could make it difficult to figure out their exact earnings from the event.
At the very least, though, the fighters stand to gain a payout in the nine figures.
There’s little doubt Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor’s fight Saturday will be one of the most lucrative in boxing history. The question is whether it becomes the sport’s richest event ever.
The wait is nearly over, with Mayweather vs. McGregor …
There’s little doubt Floyd Mayweather Jr. and ConorMcGregor‘s fight Saturday will be one of the most lucrative in boxing history. The question is whether it becomes the sport’s richest event ever.
The wait is nearly over, with Mayweather vs. McGregor a little over a day away. The two fighters are already in Las Vegas for Friday’s weigh-in, which is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET.
Financially, Mayweather’s victory over Manny Pacquiao in May 2015 set the gold standard in boxing.
According to CNN’s Chris Isidore, the fight earned roughly $500 million in total revenue between ticket and pay-per-view sales. ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported Mayweather earned between $220 million and $230 million for his fight purse, while Pacquiao took home a little more than $150 million—before Top Rank and Top Rank president Bob Arum took their respective cuts of Pacquiao’s purse.
TMZSportsshared a clip from Showtime’s All Access: Mayweather vs.McGregorseries in which Mayweather said he expects to make $300 million from Saturday’s event.
TheIndependent’sLuke Brownwrote Mayweather may earn 70 to 75 percent of the fight purse withMcGregor. Isidore reported Mayweather received 60 percent of the fight purse against Pacquiao.
In terms of pay-per-view revenue, topping Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will be difficult to beat. Isidore reported 4.4 million households purchased the PPV. Mayweather vs. McGregor will need to surpass that figure in order to earn more money since the two events both charged $89.95 for the standard feed and $99.95 for the high-definition feed.
Mayweather and McGregor do, however, have the venue working in their favor. Rather than MGM Grand Garden Arena, where Mayweather fought his last 12 fights, Saturday’s bout is in the T-Mobile Arena.
The Los Angeles Times‘ Lance Pugmire wrote in June that the T-Mobile Arena can seat 4,000 more people than the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which creates the possibility of higher gate revenue.
The strategy may also prove counterproductive in that it could further emphasize fans aren’t as excited for the prospect of Mayweather vs. McGregor as they were for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, the latter of which had already come a few years too late to truly mean anything.
Pugmire reported Aug. 7 as many as 10,000 tickets—3,000 from the general sale and 7,000 from the secondary market—were still available for Saturday’s fight.
The promotional tour that was supposed to talk fans into either purchasing Mayweather vs. McGregor on PPV or paying for a ticket may have backfired somewhat as well.
Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter wrote a critique of the third stop on the world tour in Brooklyn, New York:
“The Brooklyn variation? It was more like Mayweather and McGregor setting all of that money on fire, then dumping the still-hot embers back on the rest of us.
“Yes, it was that bad. In every way imaginable. It is bad enough that Mayweather’s new idea of fight promotion consists of cursing and a whole lot of nothing else. It is bad enough that the whole thing started two hours late, leaving thousands of waiting fans irate.”
That’s along with the fact McGregor is a 13-4 underdog, according to OddsShark. Pacquiao, in comparison, was an 8-5 underdog, per OddsShark.
McGregor is approaching his first professional boxing bout against one of the best defensive boxers of all time.
And it would be one thing if fans could count on a knockout or quick stoppage, such as Mike Tyson or Ronda Rousey fighting in their respective primes. At their peaks, Tyson and Rousey guaranteed excitement, even if their fights only lasted a matter of minutes.
Mayweather, on the other hand, is very methodical and cares little for spectacle in the ring. It’s easy envisioning him running circles around McGregor and landing enough blows to impress the judges. While that would be a winning strategy, it’d offer little in the way of entertainment—one of the biggest criticisms from Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.
Mayweather vs. McGregor may be a unique fight, but star power alone may not be enough for the event to match the revenue generated by Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. The perceived gulf in class between the two fighters may wind up turning some fans away, thereby costing Mayweather and McGregor money.
According to Brown, Mayweather andMcGregorsigned a confidentiality agreement as part of their contract, which could make it difficult to figure out their exact earnings from the event.
At the very least, though, the fighters stand to gain a payout in the nine figures.
UFC President Dana White isn’t holding out hope Jon Jones will be cleared when his positive drug test receives further scrutiny.
White told TMZ Sports Thursday it’s “highly unlikely” Jones’ B sample will show anything different upon examination.
The U…
UFC President Dana White isn’t holding out hope Jon Jones will be cleared when his positive drug test receives further scrutiny.
White told TMZ Sports Thursday it’s “highly unlikely” Jones’ B sample will show anything different upon examination.
The UFC announced Tuesday Jones tested positive for a banned substance after being tested July 28 following his weigh-in ahead of UFC 214.
Jones beat Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 to claim the UFC lightweight championship.TMZ Sportsinitially reported UFC had stripped Jones of the belt following his positive test, but ESPN.com’sBrett Okamotospoke to White, who confirmed Jones will keep the title for the time being.
The United States Anti-Doping AgencybannedJones for a year after he tested positive for clomiphene and letrozole. Because of that previous infraction, theLos Angeles Times‘Lance Pugmirereported Jones may miss up to four years as a result of his second positive test.
White openly questioned whether UFC fans have seen the last of Jones entirely.
“If it ends up getting two or three (drug violations), it might be the end of his career,” he said, per MMAjunkie’sSteven Marrocco and John Morgan. “So to talk about his legacy, it’s probably the end of his career.”
Jones turned 30 in July, so a multiyear absence from mixed martial arts would potentially be devastating to his career. By the time he returns, he’d have to rebuild his trust with White, who said last November Jones wasnever going to headlineanother UFC pay-per-view. White relented, with Jones leading the UFC 214 card alongside Cormier, but White may not be so forgiving again.
Jon Jones’ reign as the UFC light heavyweight champion appears to be over after less than a month.
TMZ Sports reported Tuesday that Jones tested positive for Turinabol and has been stripped of his title by the UFC.
Jones received a yearlong suspen…
Jon Jones‘ reign as the UFC light heavyweight champion appears to be over after less than a month.
TMZ Sports reported Tuesday that Jones tested positive for Turinabol and has been stripped of his title by the UFC.
Jones received a yearlong suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency in November. According to TMZ Sports, his most recent positive test could result in a ban up to four years.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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While Conor McGregor’s focus at the moment is solely on his superfight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Aug. 26, The Miz told TMZ Sports he’d like to see the UFC lightweight champion make the jump to WWE in the future.
The Miz said McGregor would be a natu…
While Conor McGregor’s focus at the moment is solely on his superfight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Aug. 26, The Miz told TMZ Sports he’d like to see the UFC lightweight champion make the jump to WWE in the future.
The Miz said McGregor would be a natural fit in WWE.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
Get the best sports content from the web and social in the new B/R app. Get the app and get the game.