UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is acutely aware of the potential lawsuit he will face if he throws a kick at Floyd Mayweather in their August 26 boxing superfight, according to UFC President Dana White.
The long-rumoured crossover bout between the pair has finally been made official, and White said it is clear in the contract McGregor, 28, faces financial sanctions if he calls on some of the weapons that make him so dangerous in MMA, per Martin Domin in the Mirror:
“That [kicking] will not happen; it’s in the contract. This is a boxing match under the Nevada commission under the rules of boxing. We talk about a guy of Floyd Mayweather’s value in the sport—the lawsuit if that ever happened…Conor loves money and he would lose a lot of money if that happened.“
Mayweather, 40, has been retired since September 2015, when he bowed out with a defeat of Andre Berto that took his professional record to 49-0.
However, there has been increasing clamour for Money to take on Irishman McGregor, and the American confirmed the bout, which will be fought at light-middleweight, on social media on Wednesday:
Mayweather is rightly regarded as one of the all-time greats of boxing. While he has fielded criticism from some quarters for being defensive and boring, his record is hard to argue with, and he is a five-division world champion.
McGregor, meanwhile, is the only fighter in UFC history to have held titles in two weight divisions simultaneously—he is the former featherweight champion.
His MMA record currently stands at 21-3 but has never boxed professionally.
Mayweather will be the heavy favourite for the August clash, but both will come out as winners in the end given they are expected to pocket as much as $100 million (£78.8 million) each, per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
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